The Truth is in the Lie
by x.Trench.x
Summary: Takes place after APB. Rachel may finally realize her feelings for Trent but what if there was something else trying to keep them apart. Update: Chap 20 uploaded. The story is now complete!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The sound of a horn honking woke me. I groaned, it's way too early for this witch to be awake. I tried to open my eyes when I suddenly realized my eyes were already open. Shit! What is going on? I looked around and found out I was in my mini cooper sitting in some sort of traffic jam. It appeared to be because of an accident, the many flashing lights were certainly a good indication. I went to turn the radio on but my arm wouldn't move. I tried again, concentrating very hard on just moving my arm and I got no response. 'Crap on toast!_'_

"That's an interesting choice of words." I heard myself say out loud, only I was not talking.

_Oh but you aren't alone in here little witch _I heard the voice answer in my head.

Swell. I did not enjoy being possessed the first time and I wasn't about to let it happen again. I tried to tap a line only to find that I couldn't.

_I cut you off, wouldn't want you trying to fry your little witchy brain now. _

_'_Get out of my head!' I screamed at the voice in my head. Laughter was the only response I received.

'Who are you?' I asked but no sound came out of my mouth.

_Oh you'll find out in do time... _

The traffic finally cleared and all I could do was watch as the one possessing my body drove through Cincinnati. We finally stopped in front of Juniors.

'We went through all this trouble for coffee? You have got to be kidding me.'

_No. I must see if I can pass as you, Rachel. _

Even better. Now my possessor wants to impersonate me. I got out of the car and walked into Juniors. Mark was working and I heard a loud sigh escape him as I approached the counter.

"The regular?" Mark questioned.

"Yes." Was all that my captor responded as she moved to the end of the counter to wait to pick up the order.

"Uh, you have to pay for that." Mark reminded me.

"Oh, yes." I dug through my purse and handed a five to Mark. He shook his head and went to make my coffee.

After I had coffee in my hand I returned to the car.

'Smooth' I told the person sharing my mind.

_Shut up witch. _

I snorted but the effort was ineffective since I couldn't seem to get my own body to respond. We drove back through town and headed towards the Hollows. I guessed we were going to my church to see if Ivy or Jenks would notice a difference. As we pulled into my parking spot in front of the church I wondered how much this thing knew about me or how much it was reading my mind. I wonder if there was a way I could block it out of my thoughts? As I was contemplating how to build a bubble around my thoughts we had already made our way through my church and into my kitchen.

I loved my kitchen. It had always been my favorite room in the church. Ivy was sitting at her end of the table looking over some maps she had laid out.

"Hey Rache." Ivy said without looking up from her planning, and Ivy was a planner.

"Hey. Do you have a run?" My body asked.

'Ivy! It's not me!' I screamed in my head.

_She can't hear you Rachel. Might as well not scream. You'll give both of us a headache. _

Ivy looked up and stared, her eyes slightly losing some brown.

"You smell different." Ivy said as she continued to stare at me.

'Yes! She knows, she knows.' I taunted the voice in my head.

My body laughed, "How so?" Ivy eyed me for a moment longer before standing. I felt my body suck in a breath. It's scared of Ivy? Ivy moved closer and finally stopped about a foot away from me, leaning against the center island of the kitchen.

"You smell like you and someone else at the same time, someone familiar. I can't peg it. Did you meet with someone before you were finished with your run?" Ivy asked.

What run? I didn't have a run. "Yeah I did. I actually stopped off at Juniors to meet a potential client but they never showed. Someone bumped into me and nearly spilled their coffee. Maybe that's it." It responded to Ivy's question.

Ivy said nothing, just continued to stare at me.

"Yeah, maybe." She finally answered, and I felt my body exhale in relief. I heard the slight hum of dragon fly wings and then Jenks popped in through the pixy sized hole in the kitchen window.

"Hey Rache" He stopped mid flight and stared at me and Ivy taking in the tense situation. "Tink's titties Rache, you stink. What is that smell? It smells almost moldy." Jenks ranted on. "Have you been playing with worm food again? You need to stay away from those ghosts Rache, they're bad news when it comes to you."

A ghost! Why didn't I think of that?

'Is that what you are?' I asked the voice in my head.

An awkward silence fell in the kitchen. Ivy said nothing and continued to stare. I felt my pulse increase and I know Ivy felt it too. Jenks was just starting to figure out something wasn't right here.

"Rache?" Jenks questioned. I laughed, or my body did. Jenks and Ivy looked at each other then back at me.

"I haven't been around any ghosts. I just bumped into some guy at Juniors that almost spilled their coffee on me. He just brushed by me. It must have been where I picked up the smell." I responded and moved my way to the fridge. My body glanced inside not really looking for anything other than a distraction.

"Leave her alone Jenks, I'm sure it was just what happened at Juniors." Ivy said as she gave Jenks a stern look. I knew what that look meant but I wondered if my unwelcome body mate knew as well.

"I've got to make a call." Ivy whisked out of the kitchen edging on going vampy. Damn, it was only three in the afternoon.

"So Rache, heard anything from your favorite elf?" Jenks smiled.

"My elf?" I responded.

_Yes Rachel, your elf. That is why I am here._

Jenks just laughed. "Of course your elf, who else would I be referring to? Rachel and Trent sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n...no wait it was the kitchen!"

"Very funny, Jenks." Was all my body responded.

_You do have an interesting relationship with Trenton. Tell me witch, is he your elf?_

Ivy came back into the kitchen and took her seat in front of the computer. My body was anxious, scared, and I had no control. It was starting to push Ivy's buttons. She had been doing so good with Glenn being gone and it really ticked me off that this thing inside of me was getting to Ivy.

"Who did you call?" It asked Ivy.

Ivy glanced my direction "None of your business."

It smiled at Ivy. 'Now would be a good time to exit the kitchen.' I told it. 'I would like to keep my body in one piece without any new vamp bites today.'

It seemed to listen because before I knew it we were in the living room lounging across the gray sofa. I'm not really sure if it got tired because of all the energy it was taking to possess me but I felt it suddenly give a little on the hold it had on me_. _

"Ivy!" I screamed and it actually came out of my mouth.

_Big mistake. _

It crammed my hand over my mouth and it felt like we were having a struggle inside of me. I tried to pulled my hand off my mouth and in the process we fell to the floor with a thump. I was able to get my hand off of my mouth, but I couldn't get my voice to work. We were rolling on the floor with it trying to shove my hand back over my mouth. We finally turned as I heard Jenks' wings. Ivy's eyes were totally black. She had vamped out. She moved faster than it knew was possible and slammed us up against the wall.

"What are you?" She whispered. "Is Rachel in there with you?" We gurgled and Ivy let up a little so we could speak.

"She's in here. She's okay. She can hear you." was all that it said, which didn't seem to settle Ivy any. Jenks had his sword drawn but was clearly unsure of what to do with it seeing as the enemy was inside my body.

"Ivy we have to do something." Jenks whispered.

"I already have. I called Ceri. She's sending Trent over." Ivy said.

As one me and my unwelcome visitor groaned. Ivy blinked, and a little brown returned to her eyes.

"Rachel?" She questioned.

"No, but she feels the same way I do about you calling Trenton." We shifted slightly, but not fighting the hold Ivy had on us as we were still pinned against the wall.

_I wasn't ready for him yet!  
_

"I knew she smelled funny." Jenks hovered at eye level with his sword still drawn.

"What are you going to do about it, bug?" It asked Jenks.

Jenks started dusting red but didn't answer. "How much longer?" he finally asked.

"Soon." Ivy said.

We all stood in silence after that. Great. Trent was coming to save my ass again. I really was going to owe him big. Maybe I can offer to baby sit or something. I carried on the conversation in my head forgetting that I had someone overhearing everything. Somehow my thoughts drifted back to that kiss. It seemed to be on my mind a lot lately, especially when I was in the kitchen. I felt my face blush, feeling successful in the fact that the thing couldn't control that part of my body. Ivy stiffened and I think she knew exactly what I had been thinking about.

Jenks seemed to notice the faint blush also and said "Good god Rache, can't you think about anything other than sex. Get your hormones under control witch."

There was a loud bang as the front door was opened, then slammed shut. I felt my body stiffen as if in fear. Why is this thing afraid of elves? The fear hit Ivy hard and her eyes went full black again and her breathing became uneven.

"Stop being scared." Ivy told it. "I don't want to hurt Rachel."

My body laughed. "I don't care about Rachel." It said cruelly. Just then Quen, followed by Trent walked into the living room. Quen took in the situation and took a position just behind Trent. Trent walked up to me. Ivy released me but I stayed pressed against the wall. Trent stood just a few inches taller than me and was slightly bent at eye level in front of me.

"Rachel doesn't have control of her body." He could tell just by looking in my eyes? I wasn't sure if that made me feel better or worse about my situation. "How long has she been like this?" Trent questioned Ivy.

"I think just today." she whispered. "She wasn't like this when she went to bed. She left a note saying she had a run and was gone before I woke up. She came back like this."

Trent nodded and continued to observe me. His eyes were their usual bright green but he almost had a pained look behind them. He put one hand on my shoulder and my body started to tremble. Damn, and double damn this was going to hurt. I was pretty sure whatever this thing was knew it too.

"Wait!" It held out my hand. "Trenton don't do this. I won't hurt Rachel."

'You already are hurting me. Let me talk!' I yelled at it.

_If I let you talk to him will you convince him not to take me out of you? _

_'_Sure. Whatever you say.' I felt defeated. Then I felt like I had my body back. I could still feel it inside of me but I felt like I could move how I wanted, say what I wanted, breath how I wanted. The moment it let me have control back Trent put his other hand on my other shoulder.

"Rachel?" His eyes looked deeply into mine and he knew it was me.

"Trent, I don't know what's going on. I don't even know what it is. It doesn't want you to take it out." I explained gasping for breath, finally being able to do it on my own. Trent scowled but didn't respond. Then just as suddenly my control was gone. The thing was back. Trent knew the moment it returned and his grip on me tightened.

Quen and Ivy shuffled their feet nervously behind Trent.

"Sa'han?" Quen questioned. "I think I know what it is. I can see it in Ms. Morgan's eyes."

"As do I, Quen." Trent's response was flat.

"We must get it out of her." Quen looked determined to do anything he could to help at this point. He took a step forward and was almost side by side with Trent.

"I agree." Trent said as he raised a circle around us.

'Yes!' I was shouting over and over in my head.

_You idiot. He's going to hurt you as bad as he's going to hurt me. I need him! _It gulped.

Oh yeah, this was going to be a rough one. I felt Trent pull on the line and felt it start to go into me, just as I heard the singing. It was beautiful. I had always loved listening to Trent's voice. The rise and fall of it was so hypnotic that I didn't even realize we had slowly sunk to the floor. I just kept listening to his beautiful voice over and over _tela sina templa, tessa i' uuvanimo, eithel ne sii', kela, yaara er. _

Then the thing inside of me started to struggle. I felt my body lash out against Trent. I tried to stop it and it got a good punch in before Trent got a firm enough grip on me. Quen had my legs pinned to the floor as I continued to lash out. Trent stayed completely solid and kept singing as if my life depended on it.

_Well it does you stupid witch. This isn't as easy as your elf thinks. _

I thought about panicking but then I focused on Trent's voice again and lost all the will to fight it. As I slowly felt my eyes start to close the thing inside of me tore through me. I felt like my skull was on fire. I opened my mouth to scream but no sound escaped. It felt like someone is clawing me from the inside out. My whole body was bursting with pain. I couldn't hear Trent anymore. The thing inside of me felt weaker but everything hurt so much. I felt like I was on fire. I tried to scratch at my arms to make the feeling go away but there were hands restraining me. I couldn't hear anything other than the screams in my head that weren't my own. Fire raced through me all the way to my toes. Then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I heard frantic voices around me but I wasn't ready yet to let them know I was awake. Jenks and Ivy were arguing with Trent while Quen said very little to help either side. I had always thought he was a smart man. Someone had moved me to the couch and I was feeling quite uncomfortable in the space that I had. I could smell Ivy on the cushions but it was doing little to ease the panic I've been feeling today. I was sure I was alone in my head but something still felt off. I had that lingering feeling that someone was watching me.

"Her aura just brightened. She's awake." Jenks said. I snapped my eyes open to see Trent sitting beside me staring down at my eyes. No wonder I felt so uncomfortable, the man was practically sitting on top of me. He wasn't touching me but it felt like he was. It was the strangest sensation and I wasn't sure how I felt about it.

"It's just you in there right?" Ivy questioned. Her eyes were a nice chocolate brown so at least I knew she had her instincts under control.

"I was trying to see if it was gone. I'm pretty sure it isn't here anymore. Something still doesn't feel right." I sat up trying to not touch Trent as much as possible. He seemed to notice my awkward struggle and moved down a cushion to give me some space.

"Rachel, your aura is...different." Jenks flew over and landed on my shoulder. "It's still yours but there is this weird gold glow. It's really tight around you."

"I might know how that happened." Trent whispered.

"What did you do you little cookie maker!" Jenks' voice seemed to vibrate through my skull, scraping against the back of my eyeballs. "What did you do to Rache?"

"Jenks please, the shrieking, my head." I shifted to wrap my arms around my knees and get a better look at Trent. He looked calm and collected except for the slight tightening around his eyes. He smelled like sour wine. Crap. I wasn't going to like what he was going to say. He smirked as he watched all my thoughts dance across my face. "Stop it."

Ivy moved to stand in front of me but still stayed about a foot away. "You were screaming Rachel. Trent got that thing out of you and they had to hold you down. You were trying to scratch off your...skin." She looked as if she tried to come up with a better word but couldn't. Swell.

"Rachel, I saw what Trenton did. You were in no danger. He did it to protect you." Quen's voice was soft and his tone spoke of knowledge behind it. They think I'm going to be angry with Trent. I'm not always angry with Trent, well maybe not anymore. I looked at Trent again. He was studying me. He opened his mouth as if to say something but closed it instead. I think I rather enjoyed the fact that I could make Trent Kalamack speechless.

I looked down at my hands. My fingers were covered in blood. I looked up my arms, they were bloody too. I had gouges from my wrist to my shoulders on both arms, noticing that I indeed had scratched off my own skin. There was a slight swelling under Trent's left eye. That was going to be black tomorrow. Quen had a few scratches down his arms as well. I looked like troll crap and felt it too.

"I did that?" I nodded my head towards Trent. He shook his head. Nice. He comes over here to save my ass and I give him a black eye. "And my arms?" He fidgeted under my gaze. I let out a loud sigh. "Trent, what did you do to me? I feel like there's someone touching me, I guess is the best way to explain it." Trent moved closer to me and the feeling lessened. That was weird. He went to move away but I grabbed his arm and stopped him in his tracks. Trent looked down at my hand on his arm but did nothing. As I was touching him I didn't feel like there was another person there. I just felt like me. "Why does it feel different when I touch you?"

"Sweet mother of Tink! Just tell Rachel what happened!" Jenks screeched in my ear.

"I had to give you some of my aura. I had to trick your body so that you would stop attacking yourself. It was the only way Rachel." Trent looked straight into my eyes. He held my gaze and I couldn't seem to look away.

Peachy. I am somehow sharing an aura with Trent. How does that even happen? It felt like there was another person there when I wasn't touching him. We are going to have to fix this. I refuse to live my life holding on to Trent all the time. If I really thought about it, I found that I liked touching him. His skin was warm under my hand. I could feel the muscles in his arm and I began to blush as I thought about Trent shirtless on our road trip. He did look really good without his shirt on. Sometimes it was easy for me to forget he wasn't as old as he appeared when he had on his businessman persona. It's been nice that it has slowly started to fade around me.

"Rache." Jenks snorted. "You're worse than a teenager."

"Shut up." I tried to keep thoughts of Trent shirtless out of my mind. I took my hand off of Trent's arm and the feeling ebbed back into me. "So are you going to explain what that thing was?" We were still sitting so close that we were almost touching but I was enjoying what little physical contact I could get. Trent made the events of today bearable.

"I think it was a Druchii, or at least the soul of one. There was nothing you could have done to fight it off. You have to battle wild magic with wild magic." Trent seemed to sense that I needed the physical contact from him and moved to where our legs were touching. That nagging feeling disappeared.

"What in Tink's name is a Druchii?" Jenks obviously had never heard of such a thing, nor had I. Ivy though had a strange look on her face which led me to believe she has. As Trent watched me and then Ivy he knew something had just passed between us.

"It's a black elf." Ivy sat on the chair across the room. "I thought they were extinct. They never left the ever-after."

"I thought the same thing until today." Trent seemed to relax a little and the tightening of his eyes eased. His thigh was warm against mine and I fought the urge to touch him. "It's rumored that demons had kept them in bottles in the ever-after for over 2000 years. My question would be who let one out and why did they send it to Rachel?"

Quen seemed to disappear into the shadows. I didn't need anyone to tell me he was on edge and was doing a security check. Jenks noticed and followed him into the hall. I heard a wing chirp as Jenks called his kids and then silence.

"Would your demon send something like that on you, Rachel?" Trent's tone was angry.

"No. Al wouldn't hurt me Trent. He's my friend." I didn't even think before I answered but I knew he was. He may try to teach me a lesson but not one that could kill me in the process. I tried to keep my tone neutral knowing how much Trent disliked Al. Trent seemed unhappy about my response but he remained silent. I bit my lip and thought about who in the ever-after would have done this. I was the only female demon besides Newt and I thought that made me somewhat important to them. I didn't think any of them had me on their hit list but maybe it had nothing to do with the demons.

"Rachel, I think the Druchii will be back. I heard it in your thoughts. It wants help from you. It's going to try to use you to get to me." Trent was reluctant to say the last part. I don't blame him. Trent and I were finally able to start developing a friendship. I never thought that I would see the day that I became friends with Trent Kalamack.

"When isn't something after Rachel." I heard Ivy mutter. Even Trent smiled at that one. I on the other hand frowned. How does she know it was after me? I had gotten the impression from the conversation in my head with the Druchii that it was after Trent. Ivy got up and left the room without a word. I wonder what was bothering her.

Now that I was alone with Trent on the couch and touching; my mind jumped to the kiss we had shared in my kitchen. Physical contact between Trent and I may not be such a good idea. I moved back about an inch and the feeling came flooding back but I welcomed it this time. It took me a moment to catch my breath.

"Will this feeling go away? I don't like it." I looked at my hands. I had dried blood down the front of me. God I needed to shower. Trent even had some of my blood on his silk shirt. It's not like he didn't have the money to get another one but I hated that every time he helped me something would get ruined that he had to pay for.

"I don't care about my shirt Rachel. It's not the first one you bled on and I am sure it will not be the last." He smiled. "Yes, the feeling will go away. It will take a few days for your aura to repair itself, but there shouldn't be any permanent damage. I had no idea that an aura could be influenced like that. You attacked yourself like you were after something. You...you just scared us Rachel. I did the only thing that I could think of." Something in the back of Trent's eyes was different. He was concerned for me.

I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach and I hated it. I had been up against so much in the last few years. I wouldn't even be here now if it hadn't been for Ivy and Jenks. I knew I could trust Trent to help me through this. I trusted Trent with my life, not my heart.

"I need to take a look at some of my mother's books. Quen knows more of the Druchii. I have a feeling Ceri may be of the most help now." Trent's mind seemed to be going elsewhere as he tried to wrap this up.

Quen returned with the mention of Ceri's name with Jenks on his shoulder. I smiled seeing how Quen and Trent had finally let their guard down around Jenks. They were having a private conversation that I couldn't quite hear but by the slight reddening of Trent's ears I knew he could. Now what could they be saying that would make Trent blush? I was going to have to ask Jenks.

"Sa'han, Ms. Morgan's place is secure. Jenks and his family have their lines out." He stood in a lose stance near the back door. Guess it was time for them to go. He probably wanted to make sure Ceri was safe after knowing an evil elf that could posses people was running ramped this side of the lines.

"Damn straight my lines are out." Jenks flew to the table, dusting red in frustration.

"Thank you Quen." Trent nodded his head and Quen glided out the back door. I would never be able to move with that much grace. Trent grabbed one of my hands and squeezed. "We will figure it out Rachel. I'm here to help you with anything I can." He let go just as quickly and got up. "I need to go look through those books. Do not hesitate to call me. For anything." He headed through the hall to the front of the church. I felt more than heard the front door close as Trent left.

"You stink Rachel." Ivy appeared as if out of no where and I nearly jumped off the couch. Jenks snickered.

"How did you know what a Druchii was?" I looked at Ivy waiting for her to run away like she does when she was avoiding something. Instead, Ivy sat in the oversize chair.

"Piscary, had told stories of them. He was working with them. They had almost found a way to take the ever-after back from the demons. They aren't like the other elves. The Druchii are in a league with undead vampires and demons for the abilities they have. Rachel, they are bad. I want to know why one is after you." Ivy wasn't making eye contact with me which led me to believe she was holding part of the story back. If it involves Piscary I didn't want to know what details she wasn't sharing. I sighed. There was always something after me. Vampires, werewolves, fairies, demons, witches, and HAPA. I can't seem to catch a break.

"I'm going to shower. If I come out smelling like moldy worms call Trent will ya?" I walked down the hall to my bathroom with Jenks in tow. I thought he would have stopped but he followed me all the way into the bathroom.

I gave him a tired look. "What's up Jenks? I really need to shower."

"I'm sorry Rachel." He landed on the washing machine and was looking at the linoleum floor.

"For what?" I asked becoming concerned at his mood.

"I couldn't stop the Druchii from taking over you. It's my fault. I should have seen how it got to you and I wasn't there." He sounded depressed.

I blew out my breath. "Jenks, that wasn't your fault. You wouldn't have been able to stop it. I don't even remember how it happened."

Jenks perked up a little at that. "It's not going to happen again."

"Agreed. Now get out so I can shower." I smiled at him. Maybe I will make some cookies tonight to cheer him up.

"Okay I'll go but I'm having Belle come watch you while you're in here." He hurried out of the room.

"Jenks! I don't need a babysitter!" I yelled but I knew he wasn't going to listen to me.

I took off what I was wearing and stuck it into the washing machine. I was tired of needing new clothes because the ones I owned were covered in blood stains. At least it was my own blood and not Trent's or Quen's. I turned on the shower and let it run until the water was almost too hot to get in.

Thoughts of Trent kept running through my head. I still didn't know what he was capable of when it came to magic. He hasn't shown me what he can do yet, and that thought scared me. He was dangerous which made him that much more attractive. _Rachel candy._

I knew enough about elven magic to know that it was very unpredictable. I can do wild magic. The thought hit me and I nearly collapsed. I had used it before with Trent's charms. I had used it with the ring. I looked down at the ring on my hand, running my fingers over the smoothness. Trent knows I can use his magic. That was when the shakes started. I sat on the bottom of the tub and let the water wash the blood away. I didn't get up until all of the hot water was gone.

* * *

That night I decided it was a good idea to stay in. Lounging on the couch watching Die Hard just wasn't appealing. Ivy was hovering and I knew she was doing it because she was worried but it was driving me crazy. She had come into the living room thirteen times looking for a pen that she could never seem to find. Ivy never lost anything. I finally decided to get up to clean the kitchen.

I had just put the last of my spelling equipment into the sink when I heard a knock from the front of the church. All I wanted to do was get the dishes done and that wasn't going to happen. I didn't know where Ivy had wondered off to but she was in no hurry to get the door. I threw the sponge back in the sink and headed for the front of the church. They knocked again getting louder this time.

"I'm coming!" I yelled as I unbolted the door and opened it. "Ceri!"

Ceri smiled and gave me a big hug. "Rachel, may I come in?"

"Of course." I moved aside so that Ceri could come inside. "What are you doing here?" We moved into the sanctuary and Ceri was bombarded by Jenks' kids. You could never understand what all of them were saying when they talked at the same time. I definitely was in no mood for it seeing as their ultra sonic squeaks were killing my head. "Jenks! Get your kids." I heard a whistle and they disappeared.

"I wanted to check on you after today." Ceri said as we moved our way into the kitchen. "When Quen and Trenton came home, I was worried Rachel. You always find trouble. I just want you to be safe." She touched my arm and then took my chair at the table.

I sighed. "I'm fine Ceri. Really. Trent did some elfy thing and I have some of his aura but other than that the only thing still bothering me is some cuts on my arms.I'm going to do a healing curse later so they won't be bothering me for long." I went to start washing my pots in the sink.

"Trent gave you some of his aura?" Ceri questioned.

"Uh...yeah?" I said becoming nervous at her question. "He said the Druchii had turned my aura and the only way for me to not hurt myself was to transfer some of his own aura to me."

"Rachel, how did he give you some of his aura? I thought that was only a story. I wasn't aware he could do that." Ceri looked deep in thought which only made me more nervous.

"It isn't common even for an elf thing is it?" I asked setting my pot back down. Ceri shook her head. Shit.

"To be able to do something like that, the two auras have to be very similar. The troubling part is that the two people have to share strong feelings for each other for it to be possible." Ceri almost whispered the last part, knowing I didn't want to hear it.

"I've had strong feelings of hate towards Trent." I said hopefully.

"Not those kind of feelings Rachel." Ceri smiled.

"Ceri, I don't know how I feel about him. I'm confused. I don't try to think about it. Things aren't how they use to be and I don't know how to feel." I whined. "He's a different person. I understand him now. I trust Trent with my life, not my heart."

"The fact that you're having thoughts about not trusting him with your heart says a lot." Ceri said. "This is happening whether you want it to or not. Rachel, you will come to realize where you stand with him. You have to decide how you feel about Trenton before it ruins the friendship you two have developed."

"I can't Ceri. I can't go through what I went through when I lost Kisten." I whispered.

"You can. Trenton can help you. He is a good man. He just wasn't the man for me." Ceri smiled. "May I make you some tea?" She got up and filled the kettle with water.

"Sure." I smiled back. "Tea it is."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The week had been pretty uneventful. I didn't have any runs and it was depressing. Business had been slow since I came out as a demon and I wasn't an assassin despite what people had heard. There was no sign of the Druchii, but having no attacks on me lately was making me nervous. Things were never this calm around me. I had my weekly visit to the ever-after and Al was not up for spilling the beans on the Druchii. He confirmed it was one of them then refused to let me look through his library for any information. He told me not to go sticking my nosy little witchy ass into matters that didn't concern me, whatever that was supposed to mean. He asked me to stay in the ever-after. After repeating myself about ten times that I needed to be on the other side of the lines for Trent to help me, and oddly enough he agreed. The feeling that was left from Trent's aura seemed to have finally subsided. It was just after noon and I was in the kitchen making cookies when the phone rang. I hurried out to get it hoping that it wouldn't wake Ivy.

"Vampiric Charms?" I wiped some cookie dough off of my fingers.

"Hello Rachel." Trent's velvety smooth voice melted into my ears. "I think I found something. Can you come over this afternoon, say around three?" I lost the ability to speak. God if he had any idea what just the sound of his voice does to me. "Uh Rachel, are you still there?"

"Yes. Yes, I can be there at three." I said snapping out of my trance. I blushed thinking about how I had just went speechless. I hope he didn't notice. I heard the hum of Jenks' wings and thought it was time to end the call. "I will see you then." I hung up without waiting for his response. I was such a stupid witch sometimes.

"Why you so red Rache?" Jenks landed on my shoulder with a sly look on his face. "That was the little cookie maker wasn't it?" He laughed. I moved my hair to cover my shoulder so he would have to find somewhere else to sit. He flew up and followed me to the kitchen.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" I questioned him, going back to work on the chocolate chip cookies. I popped a filled cookie sheet into the oven.

"Belle is trying to get me to stretch my sleep schedule so that I sleep after the kids are up. We were trying to find the best way to have someone always watching you." He grinned as he came to a stop on the center island.

"I don't need a babysitter." I mumbled more to myself than to Jenks.

"Sure Rache and I poop ice cream cones." Jenks walked forward to steal a pixy sized bite of the cookie dough. "Why do you think Quen has been past here about six times today?" He started eating his dough and I wondered if it would make him as drunk as honey does.

"Quen?" I glanced out the window across the graveyard. Damn. Even Trent thought I needed a babysitter. It could just be Quen acting on his own without Trent's knowledge? It wouldn't be the first time. Ceri would have to know what he was up to though.

Jenks hiccuped but seemed to be able to stand on his own. "They care about you Rache. That's what friends are for."

"I have to be at Trent's at three. He thinks he might have found something about the Druchii. Do you want to come?" I finished scooping the rest of the dough out of the bowl.

"Yeah I'll go. I told Belle I would bring her sister something the next time we went over there." Jenks turned a light shade of red. I smiled. He knows as well as I that no one could replace Matalina but I liked that he had someone.

* * *

I went to stop at Trent's gatehouse when the guard waved me through. Trent really does trust me. I parked in the front lot where Quen was waiting for me. As soon as I opened the car door Jenks landed on his shoulder and asked for permission to deliver the item to Belle's sister. He nodded his approval and Jenks disappeared with a hum.

"So, who has you checking on me?" I asked the man with my hands on my hips. I could never pull off this pose quite as well as a pixy does.

"I was requested to periodically make sure you were safe Ms. Morgan." He turned his head to hide his smile.

"Quen!" I whined. "Who asked you? Was it Trent or Ceri?" I followed Quen through the compound, finally stopping in Trent's back office. Trent was sitting at his desk looking over a large book that looked very similar to one of my demon texts. Quen exited the office shutting the door gently behind him. Great. He was never going to answer my question now.

I flopped into one of the chairs in front of his desk. Trent still hadn't acknowledged me and I stood, snatching the book right out from under him and sat back with it in my lap. I don't know why it bothered me that he hadn't greeted me but for some reason it did. Trent raised an eyebrow and met my eyes.

"Hello Rachel." He smirked. "I see you would like to take a look at my book."

I snorted. That was classy. What's next Rache, are you going to belch the ABC's? Why do I keep acting like this around him? "So is this what you found?" I looked down at the page open in my lap. It was a charm to keep a soul out of a body. It looked pretty easy and the ingredients all acceptable by my standards. There were a lot of penciled in notes on how to modify it. There were so many different options on what you could do with a soul that it scared me. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I never would have believed there was a charm to join two souls together, or one to allow a certain soul to come and go freely from your body, or that would permanently lock a soul into a body. I wonder if any of these would work on Ivy?

Trent studied me as I finished evaluating the spell. He leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands in front of him. He was dressed down today, wearing a green polo shirt to match his eyes and causal khaki pants. He looked good. From the look of amusement in his eyes he knew that I knew he looked good too. Peachy. I hate it when he catches me checking him out.

"Would you be willing to try it?" He asked, not breaking eye contact.

"Beg pardon?" I genuinely was confused as to what he was referring. Did he want me to try him?

"The charm Rachel. Would you be willing to try the charm?" He never lost the look of amusement behind those green eyes.

I exhaled. "It doesn't say anything about what could happen if it doesn't work. What if we do it wrong and I open a way for souls to come in?" Elven magic made me nervous. It was wild and you never knew which way it could turn.

"I would never put you in danger." Trent said and I knew he meant it, well at least now. Two years ago I wouldn't have believed him. We had quite the history behind us. I trusted him with my life now and that's what matters. "Ceri approves of it. I had her look it over to make sure it would be safe for you. She offered to help you prepare it if you would like."

I smiled. I had learned from experience that you're better off watching Ceri get a spell prepared rather than helping her. Trent returned my smile knowing exactly what I was thinking. I laughed. "Ceri is already working on it isn't she?"

He ran his hand through his blonde hair. "Yeah. As soon as I told her you would be here this afternoon she began preparing it for you." I nodded and returned the book to Trent's desk. I was still getting use to making casual conversation with Trent and the word yeah sounded odd coming from him. "Did your de- Al, did he have any information for you?"

I found his anger towards Al kind of funny. I know the time he spent being a demon's familiar was part of it but sometimes I wondered if it was more than that. He reminded me of Ivy. She always came across as a jealous boyfriend and Trent had a lot of similar reactions.

"No. He didn't know who did it but he did agree that it was a Druchii. He wanted me to stay. I told him you were helping me and he let me come back." I explained.

His eyes widened and his mouth opened into an O of surprise."He trusts me to keep you safe. I guess our little stunt in my office was beneficial." Trent answered.

He had regained the emotion that had started to slip from him and his eyes were back to being filled with amusement. It was kind of nice not having to say everything that I was thinking. I was starting to like that it was almost like Trent could read my mind.

"Not your mind, just your face." He smiled another real smile. I like Trent like this. We worked really well together. I returned his smile. "Shall we go see if Ceri is ready for you?"

We both rose to head towards the door. He opened the door for me and set his hand on the small of my back. As soon as he made contact I felt a jolt of energy jump between us. It wasn't the same as when one person was low in their chi and you just equaled them out. This was something entirely different. It felt similar to what he had done in his office when we were talking to Al in the line. He removed his hand knowing I had felt the sensation.

"It didn't hurt." I whispered, he could hear me even if I could hardly hear myself.

He stepped out of the office and I followed him. I could get lost in Trent's place. We ended up in the kitchen attached to the common room. I was a little surprised that they didn't have a kitchen just for spelling in a place that big. Maybe they did and Ceri just liked to use this one.

Ceri was standing at the counter bent over a hand written list. She looked so happy. She smiled when she saw I was with Trent. The kitchen was amazing. It reminded me of mine, even having a center island. Everything was stainless steel down to the refrigerator. I smiled seeing the girls in a playpen in front of a large oak dinning table. They squealed when they saw their dad. Trent followed me over to the girls with a huge smile on his face. Those girls really were changing him.

"Hello my little ladies." I said, kissing both of them on the head.

"Rachel, you look wonderful." Ceri said, coming over to give me a hug.

I laughed. "I need to stop being such a stranger around here." I returned her hug. I was pleased she was happy here with her girls and Quen. "Do you need any help?" I asked as she returned to the spell.

She gave me a flat look. I couldn't help but grin at her knowing what her answer was going to be. Ceri and I turned at the same time as Lucy screamed for her father's attention since he was only holding Ray.

"She really is a love." Ceri said rolling her eyes. "She just wants all the attention from her father. I'm almost done here Rachel. Did Trenton explain what we were doing?"

"Well no." I turned my full attention to Ceri rather than admiring Trent's backside as he was bending to put Ray back and retrieve Lucy. I trusted Ceri. She had helped me with enough spells and potions for me to know she would never put me in danger. Now that I was a demon a little smut from a spell was of no thought to Ceri. I still didn't want it but if it would keep my friends or myself safe I was willing to take it.

"It's not a very common spell. It's elven but seeing as you can do wild magic it will work." Ceri gave me a long look. I think she knew I had finally put two and two together and figured out I could do elven magic.

"You knew demons could do elven magic?" I asked taking the finger stick she was holding out to me.

"Rachel I thought you knew?" Ceri looked confused. She studied my face seeing that I had no idea what she was referring to. She sighed. Ceri didn't always make me feel like the smartest person. "All elven magic can be performed by demons. You can do anything that Trenton can do and you can probably do it faster and better. Most demons choose not to use it. It's adaptive. It can cause more damage than good when in a battle."

"Does Al use it?" I asked Ceri.

"No. He doesn't trust it." Ceri replied.

I leaned forward and plopped three drops of my blood into the copper pot. I could smell the burnt amber and if I could then Ceri and Trent could.

"I knew I could do elven magic when Trent gave me the charms and the ring. I just didn't know that Trent had figured it out and didn't bother to tell me I was his guinea pig." Trent had pulled away from the girls and stood next to Ceri looking down at the list.

"I think when we have time to sit down and talk Rachel, there are some things I should tell you." Trent looked at me and I couldn't read his face. He almost looked like he was holding back anger. What did I do to irritate the elf now?

Ceri gave him a look that you only see mother's give. I laughed. I couldn't help it. He knew that look and he backed away from her.

"I will take the girls and put them down for their nap." He came up with the excuse, took the girls, and was out of the kitchen in about ten seconds. I was still smiling. Ceri could drive a multimillionaire from the kitchen with just one look. I loved my friends.

"So you just need to drink this and say these words." Ceri handed me a vial and pointed at some words on her paper. I looked over them. They were Latin. I hope I could pronounce them right.

I took the cap off the vile and chugged it. It tasted like burnt leaves and I had to stop the urge to spit it back out. Why couldn't these things ever taste like cotton candy? "_hoc anima, servare spiritus ex, hoc magicae._"

Ceri nodded her approval that I had said it correctly. I didn't feel any different. I hope I did it right. Suddenly it felt like the whole room was spinning. I was sick to my stomach and I sank to the floor. Ceri rushed forward.

"Rachel! Rachel! Are you alright? Rachel breathe!" Ceri yelled.

I hadn't even realized I was holding my breathe. I was waiting for the pain to hit like it did with a curse but I didn't feel it. I just felt woozy. I focused on Ceri, trying to keep from throwing up. Oh God don't let me puke in Trent's kitchen.

Trent must have heard Ceri yelling and burst into the kitchen. "What happened?"

He looked startled as he took in my sprawled body across his kitchen floor. I found him very attractive when he was showing his concern for me. He knelt down beside me and looked at Ceri, waiting for her answer. He smelled like the forest and his cologne. I wanted to lean into him to get a better sniff but I resisted. Ceri was watching us, her eyes jumping back and forth between us.

"I don't know. She said the incantation and then she dropped to the floor and wasn't breathing." Ceri was frantic. "I don't do elven magic Trenton."

"I'm fine." I finally managed to say, sure now that I wasn't going to loose my lunch. "I just got really light headed and felt sick for a moment."

"I don't like this Trenton. I'm not sure she should have reacted this way to that charm." Ceri said nervously.

"She's fine Ceri. She performed the magic on herself. It was bound to have some sort of side effect." Trent said as he smoothed his hair down and stood up.

"Go turn yourself Trent! You should have told me I would have a reaction to it!" I yelled at him. It wasn't really his fault but I felt better yelling at someone.

"You were never in any danger. I would have informed you if there was any serious risk." He said as his whole posture stiffened.

"Fantastic." I mumbled and got up from the floor. I felt fine again. Damn wild magic. "How will I know if it worked?"

"There isn't a way to check. We just wait it out and see if the Druchii possesses you again." Trent answered. This was not what I wanted to hear. I wanted to take my frustration out on him but he didn't deserve it. He was trying to help me and all I wanted to do was kick him in the shin.

"Well I think it worked Rachel." Ceri said. "You wouldn't have had any kind of reaction if the spell didn't work at all." She had a good point. Elven magic was unpredictable but if it wasn't performed correctly then I shouldn't have had a reaction. Then again I didn't always react the same way to magic that others did and it worried me.

"Wonderful. Rachel a word if you don't mind?" Trent questioned and without waiting for my response he took my elbow and led me out of the kitchen.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Trent continued to lead me through hallway after hallway and before I knew it we were in a part of the compound that I had never been. He finally stopped in front a very thick, old wooden door. He mumbled something that I couldn't quite catch and the door opened on its own. As we passed through the doorway and inside I felt a wash of ley line energy. This room was protected by a ley line spell. I looked at Trent but he was distracted, moving books about on the large tables that filled the room. There were chairs around the tables and a fireplace at the far end of the room surrounded with plush cream colored furniture. I took my eyes off of Trent and looked around the room. The ceiling must be at least eighteen feet high and all the walls were covered in floor to ceiling books. I was in Trent's library.

I whistled. There was no point in denying it. I was clearly impressed with his collection. "Why didn't you tell me you were hiding all of this?" I approached one of the shelves and was careful to only look and not touch the books. Trent seemed like the type of person to be a little offended if I touched without permission.

"Feel free to look at whatever you'd like Rachel." Trent said as he moved onto the next table, clearly looking for something in particular.

The first book that caught my attention had no title and the binding was falling off. Why do the old ones always catch my eye? I went to pick it up and I felt a tingle in my hand as I touched the book. I immediately shoved it back onto the shelf. Wild magic. I don't know why I'm so attracted to such dangerous things. That little lesson in the kitchen not ten minutes ago had taught me absolutely nothing. I sighed.

I eyed Trent up and down hoping he wouldn't catch me ogling him again. I couldn't help myself. The man was gorgeous. His back was to me as I admired the lean muscles that his shirt did nothing to hide. He was intently searching the tables and seemed to be unaware of the wonderful view he presented.

"Rachel." Trent said catching me checking him out. I just shrugged. I'm just looking and there is nothing wrong with looking. I know I've caught Trent more than once doing the same to me. He's just a lot better at it than I am.

"No, I'm just more subtle." He had a genuine smile on his face. I loved that smile. Why am I thinking about his smile? I returned to my browsing of the book shelves. "Found it."

Trent walked over to the table nearest to the fire place and took a seat. I slowly made my way over to join him, glancing along the book titles as I went. I wanted to keep looking but I wanted to know what it was that he needed to show me even more; curiosity always got the better of me. He held what looked more like a very large notebook rather than a regular book. As I glanced at it over his shoulder it in fact was a notebook. Some of it was written in another language that I assumed was elven. It looked like a mixture of medical terminology and genetic research. I realized it was a notebook from Trent's fathers research. I felt my body stiffen.

I was one of Trent's fathers projects. His father was the reason I was a demon. He had done it as a favor to my father to save my life but I was stuck with all the repercussions. Trent quickly flipped through the notebook knowing exactly what he was looking for. He stopped on the page that had Rachel Morgan printed at the top. I moved to sit in the chair next to him. He slid the notebook over to me and busied himself with another book he found on the table.

I looked at the pages with my name on them. It was mostly about my condition and what doses of medicines he was giving me to get rid of the rosewood syndrome. Then on the last page with my name on it, Trent's name was also at the top. It was a note left to the both of us. His father knew that someday we would both read this. It described everything I would become. That I would be a demon. That I could do demon, witch, and elven magic. That it was up to Trent and I to finally stop the war between the demons and the elves. That it was our destiny to do it together. It was what our fathers had wanted. I felt tears in my eyes. I didn't want something so big to fall on me. The realization that it already had finally hit me. I had known for a long time and I felt a tear slip from me.

Trent had been watching me out of the corner of his eye. "It's not an easy burden when a whole entire race is depending on you."

I suddenly knew exactly how Trent had felt all those years. He had probably known about this letter since he was a child. That is so much weight for one person to carry. No wonder he always came across as such a heartless bastard.

"I don't want to do this alone anymore Rachel. I trust you. I know what you are and I trust you with my life. With my daughters life. We can end this war. Together." He reached over and wiped the tear from my cheek.

I slowly reached out and set my hand on his. He glanced down at our hands and looked back up at my eyes. "I get it Trent. You don't have to waste a speech on me. I've already done what I can to help your species, now it's time for you to follow through with that promise to fix mine." He nodded his head and I moved my hand.

He let his breath out when I hadn't even realized he had been holding it. "That's why I showed you this notebook Rachel. You are the key to fixing them. My father left his notes in hopes that I would pick up where he left off. I need you to be able to do this." He looked as if a huge weight had been lifted from him. I wonder if even Quen knows about this notebook. "He doesn't." Trent answered my unspoken thought.

"Alright, lets get to it. What do you need me for?" I stood and made my way over to the fireplace. It was kinda chilly and the fire felt nice. Trent was never cold and I envied that about him. I remembered Ceri would walk in the snow with no shoes. Stupid elf thing. I wasn't so lucky, I seemed to be more sensitive than humans to the cold.

Trent came over by the fire and relaxed in one of the plush chairs. "I don't know how or what I will need you for yet, I just know that I will need you." Hearing those words from him made my heart skip a beat. He's just talking about helping the demons. He isn't talking about anything other than that. I was careful to keep looking into the fire that way he couldn't fully see my face. I didn't trust Trent with my heart. After sitting for a few moments in silence Trent moved over to stand next to me.

"You haven't had a thought cross your face in five minutes Rachel. What is going on in that head of yours?" Trent reached out to turn my chin towards him so he could see my face. I wasn't sure what it was going to show but I was fairly certain it was masking whatever kind of feelings I was having for Trent. Maybe it wasn't even feelings. I think it was just raw attraction. I remembered the time in his office when I was a mink. Not all of those memories were bad. At least I got a great view of his backside. When he was angry at Francis even his fish felt it. I don't know what it is about this man but he had such power and personal strength. I have always chosen to ignore it. I'd much rather stick my tongue out and not listen to him.

"Trent what are you?" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them and I felt really silly. Trent was silent and took a step back from me. His eyes tightened and I knew right then there was more that the elf isn't telling me. "What?" I stammered and I took a step back from him. Why is there always some kind of mystery surrounding this man?

"I'm me Rachel. It's just well there are different levels of elves. I guess the best way to explain it is there are higher elves and lower ones. The higher ones are capable of doing much, much more with their magic. We have the ability to possess more power than other elves."

He shifted from foot to foot looking nervous. Maybe he thought something he has to say is going to make me yell at him. I once enjoyed yelling at Trent. Despite my small outburst in the kitchen, I didn't yell at him anymore. Hell I even understood him. I'm more like him than I had wanted to admit.

"So you're a higher elf? I didn't know elves had some sort of ranking system. So are you like royalty? Is Ceri a high elf? She's royalty. What's Quen?" I was full of questions but only asked the few that popped into my head first.

Trent laughed obviously relieved that I had taken it so well. "I'm not really sure how it works. My father never explained it to me. Quen told me what I was. Ceri knew when she met me. To my understanding it just means we're more magically inclined than other elves. It's a bloodline. The power and abilities are carried through the bloodline."

He moved back to his chair and I did the same. "We can do magic that not all elves can do. That is why I was able to pull a Druchii out of you. Quen could not have done so. Ceri I believe could but she doesn't embrace wild magic."

"You're still you but you can do...I guess more rare forms of magic?" I was trying to understand what he was saying and I think I was tracking. He nodded. I wonder if I can do some of the magic that a high elf can do. "Would I be able to do some of your high elf magic?"

"I think you may. I've not had the chance to test it with a demon." He said the last word so softly I could hardly hear it. I knew what I was. He knew what I was. I was starting to learn to live with it. I couldn't walk on eggshells forever around the d word.

"I'm a demon Trent. It's okay to say so. I'm just a good demon, one that never wants to live in the ever-after." I shuddered thinking about the few days I was stuck down there when Trent had cursed me. I know he was helping me but I never want to be stuck there again. Not being able to come and go as I please was a horrible feeling.

"I won't let you go back there Rachel. You will stay on this side of the lines." Trent said it with such force I knew he wouldn't let me be stuck there again. My feelings about Trent had been softening for a while. I was looking at him as a person, not as a murdering, drug-lord, bastard.

"I'm still a bastard." Trent smiled.

"That I will believe, Mr. Kalamack." I laughed. I studied Trent wishing I could know what he was thinking. He reads me so easily and it just isn't fair.

"I was thinking you're beautiful when you laugh." Trent whispered.

I looked at him open mouthed. He stood and leaned over my chair. I leaned back not knowing what he was trying to do. He leaned down til his face was only inches from mine. I had the urge to kiss him. I can't kiss Trent Kalamack. That only happens in my head in my kitchen when he's saving my soul. Well not entirely in my head but in the hospital. I was babbling in my head about kissing Trent and he was not three inches away. Could I really let this happen? Did I even want this to happen? He was a good kisser sure, but this is Trent. He could put me in the ground without even a second thought.

"I would never hurt you Rachel." He stayed his three inches back waiting for me to make up my mind if this was going to happen or not. I moved forward and now there was only two inches of space between us. He smelled like cinnamon and summer. He closed the space between us and just as his lips went to touch mine the door burst open.

"Sa'han! We have a problem." Quen looked angry. I sat there in shock. I almost kissed Trent and he wasn't doing it to put my soul back in. Trent quickly regained his composure and headed to the door. I just sat. I almost kissed Trent. "Ceri and I felt a drop in the line. Someone jumped in but we can't find an intruder. The alarms are set. Shall I loose the hounds?"

"Yes." Trent didn't even hesitate to answer. They both stopped in the doorway. "Rachel, are you coming?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm yeah." I jumped up and headed to the door. We moved through all the halls and were back in the big living room with Ceri and the girls. Ceri didn't look bothered by the thought of someone roaming around the compound but she was quick and she knew spells that I don't think even Al knew.

"Ceri you'll stay with the girls." Trent kissed both girls on the head and kept going, heading for his front office, with Quen and myself in tow. Quen had already put security on alert by the way they were moving around through the compound. There was so much activity I don't know how they could tell who should or shouldn't be there. Quen and Trent talked in quiet voices that I couldn't hear. As we reached the office Quen continued on.

"Quen, find Jenks. He can help." I said as I followed Trent into his office. I received a nod of acknowledgment in return.

"Trent stop!" I don't know why I said it but I did. He stopped dead in his tracks not knowing why I had made the request. I didn't even know why. Something just felt wrong. It felt like there was someone else in the office. "Do you feel that?"

He turned and looked at me. "Rachel?"

"Sshh." I needed it quiet. It was almost like I could hear whispering but not really hearing it. It was the strangest feeling. Trent moved back to stand by me seeing as I had only taken two steps into the office. I cleared my mind and used my second sight. I wanted to make sure there wasn't a demon standing in Trent's line. Empty. I was kind of disappointed. That would have been more normal for me to feel a demon than whatever I was feeling. It began to get stronger, almost like the whispering had gotten louder but I still couldn't figure out what was being said. It was like someone was talking into a pillow.

I tapped the line and let down my second sight. _Tulpa._ I spindled the extra energy into my head once my chi was full. Trent had felt me tap the line and did the same.

"I don't know what's coming Trent but something is going to jump in on your line." I could feel it coming.

"Quen!" Trent yelled. I wasn't sure if anyone besides Sara Jane could hear him but she would get the message to him. I pushed Trent behind me getting ready to make a circle as I felt the line drop.

"It's jumping right into your office." I whispered and waited. "Get yourself in a circle Trent." Before Trent could get any words out Lee popped into the office. "Lee!" I was confused. What was he doing?

"That isn't Lee." Trent said becoming stiff. Sure enough I took a look at him and his eyes had almost a silver gleam behind the brown. "It's a Druchii."

"Swell." I let out my breath. Now would be a good time to see if I could pull one out too, or maybe not. I don't think Lee would appreciate me practicing on him.

"Put us all in a circle Rachel." Trent whispered and took a step out from behind me. I had the circle up before he finished saying my name.

"Damn." The Druchii swore. "How did you know I wasn't Stanley?"

"Is Lee in there?" Trent questioned. "Let me talk to him." I knew how Lee felt being locked in your own body. The Druchii was powerful and the normal ways to get something that was possessing you out of your body doesn't work with these things. Lee's eyes flickered strange silver and brown.

"Trent. What the hell is going on? Why is it every time someone kidnaps me Rachel is waiting for me at the other end!" Lee looked pissed but he had a smile on his face. I guess the fact that I'm always involved from one side of the country to the other in chaos was amusing to him. I snorted. I didn't find the humor in being stuck in the middle of every kind of supernatural event funny.

Trent smiled. "Surfer dude...this is going to hurt."

Trent looked at me and I knew I needed to help hold Lee down. We both moved forward Trent on the left, and myself on the right. Trent started to sing. I was surprised to hear it seeing as he wasn't doing it out loud, he was doing it in Lee's head. How could I hear it? I remembered the words from them being in my head. If Trent can do this and I can hear it, I wonder if I can too?

Without another thought I picked up the words where Trent left off _tela sina templa tessa i' uuvanimo eithel he sii' kela yaara er. _Trent turned to me as Lee lost the will to stand and we gently helped him to the floor. Trent could hear me. I know he could. He let me continue until all we could hear was Lee's thoughts. Just as Lee was closing his eyes to go to sleep we heard the other voice.

_Trenton, Trenton, Trenton._ It was screaming over and over in Lee's head.

'What do you want from me?' Trent spoke into Lee's head. This has got to be one of the weirdest conversations I have ever had.

_Why can't I get into Rachel's thoughts? What did you do to her? _It asked him, calming slightly.

"He didn't do it. I did it myself. You aren't ever getting back in my head!' I told the Druchii.

_We will see Rachel. We will see. _It laughed. I could tell Trent was ready for this to be over. He did a hand gesture that I had never seen before and I felt the power of the line run through me and into Lee. I sure hope he didn't fry Lee's brain knowing how much more line energy I could hold, than well anyone I know besides maybe Newt. Lee's body twitched a little but it was nothing like the outburst I had when the Druchii was inside of me.

Lee's eyes opened to show brown unfocused eyes. "Thanks." Then he passed out.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Lee had been moved to one of the guest rooms and still hadn't woken. Ceri and Quen kept telling me not to worry. It took more time for someone to recover if they aren't use to channeling that much ley line energy. I felt like it was all my fault. Trent had used me to push all that energy into Lee. He had explained he needed to since the Druchii had already been in my head he would need more energy to get it out. It didn't even bother me that Trent had done it without my permission.

Ceri had made tea and we were all sitting in the living room with the girls waiting for Lee to wake up. Lucy and Ray were demanding my attention and I found myself laughing and smiling more than I had in a long time. Jenks was flying overhead making rainbow sparkles for the girls. He would dip low and I was waiting for one of them to get their chubby little hands on him.

"The charm we used for me, can Lee use it?" I asked Ceri, taking a sip of my tea. I really wanted some coffee. The bland taste of the herbs were just not hitting the spot.

"It would work on Lee. You or Trenton would be able to perform it. I could prepare another batch for him." Ceri kept trying to hand Lucy a cookie but she was so focused on catching Jenks that she didn't notice. I nodded but didn't respond. I hated that people I knew were in danger again. I still couldn't figure out if the Druchii was trying to get to me or to Trent.

"I think it's after both of us, Rachel." Trent said, drawing my attention to him. His hair was in all directions like he had just woken up. It was a look I couldn't remember ever seeing on him but I liked it. He was comfortable and he was able to be like that in front of me. He noticed my attention on his head and ran his hand through his hair which only increased the problem. I grinned.

"You're going to have to summon it Trenton." Ceri looked at me. "It's going to keep coming back. You have to find out what it wants."

Trent sighed. "I've been trying to find a way to summon it and I'm coming up empty. I had Rachel in the library earlier hoping we could find a spell to call it."

I jerked my head in his direction. We were not in that library looking for a spell. His ears started to turn red under my gaze and I looked away. Why did Trent have me in the library? I'm sure if he was intentionally trying to kiss me or whatever he was trying to do, there were much better places for it. Especially thinking about where it could have went if we had gotten carried away. No. I wouldn't even think about what had almost happened in the library. It was just a fluke one time thing.

"Then lets find the spell. Trent?" I stood and headed for the hall. Trent shrugged at Ceri and stood to follow me.

"Should we have cherry pie tonight Trenton?" Ceri called as we walked down the hall.

We heard her giggle as neither one of us responded. It was obvious Ceri had her suspicions about what was going on between Trent and myself. I could honestly say nothing was though. It made me kind of sad. I liked working with Trent. I wanted to be able to continue the relationship that we had developed.

We came to a stop in front of the large door again. Trent said the words for it to open. This time I recognized them as a charm to open locked doors. The line energy washed over us as we went inside. I headed to the shelves with the books that gave me the tingles. It seemed like a good place to start to me. I felt Trent's eyes on me but I kept my back to him. I was angry with him; I hated that he had lied to Ceri about why we were in the library. I didn't expect him to tell her he had tried to kiss me but he could have come up with something better than a spell I knew nothing about.

"Why are you mad at me now, Rachel?" Trent moved to the shelf next to mine and risked a peek at me from the corner of his eye. I snatched the book that I felt the tingles from off the shelf and slammed it on the table. Trent didn't even flinch. I pushed the book in his direction. I didn't know what we were looking for.

"I don't like you lying to Ceri. Why couldn't you just say we were down here reading a letter from you father? A notebook?" I frowned not wanting to make eye contact with him. Trent moved to open the book. He started flipping through the pages but I don't think he was really looking at them.

"I don't know Rachel. I like us being able to have secrets. This is a secret that was meant for us. I want to keep it that way." Trent continued to flip through the book. God I could be really thick sometimes. When he put it that way it sounded like that's the way it should be. Why do I always jump to conclusions about his motives? He isn't the same man that he was before.

"Trent I'm sorry. I didn't think of it like that." I moved forward to help him look through the book. "What exactly are we looking for?" He relaxed a little.

"Anything about summoning a soul. Maybe one for a ghost? We could modify it to work." He said as he kept turning pages. I smiled. We didn't need his book. There was the charm I had used on Pierce that we could modify for the Druchii. I reached over and closed the book. Trent looked at me, his eyebrows raised.

"Got it. I have a charm." I leaned back against the table. I saw Trent run his eyes up and down my body and I couldn't help but let my smile get bigger. "Do you remember from New Years at Carew Tower?"

"Yes." Trent looked less than pleased but I had a spell and he didn't so he would have to suck it up and deal with it. Trent was still looking at me and I had to look down at myself. Did I have baby slobber on me or something? My black working leathers looked fine. My red halter was slobber free also. Before I knew what was happening Trent was right in front of me. He had moved so fast. I immediately reacted. I dropped and flung my right leg out in a sweeping motion taking him down in one quick move. I jumped up and backed away. I hadn't meant to take him down. Everything happened so fast and I was on edge, I acted on instinct. Trent groaned and stood up.

"Damn it Rachel." Trent doesn't swear very often but this time it seemed appropriate. "What did you do that for?" He was rubbing his elbow giving me the impression it had hit the floor pretty hard.

"I..I...I didn't mean to." I backed all the way up to the book shelf. I couldn't go further back and Trent was making me nervous. What was going on with him? When did he suddenly become okay with the idea of physical contact between us? He moved towards me but he was slower this time. I saw him coming. I saw the look in his green eyes. He wasn't going to hurt me. Then why was I so sure that he was?

"Trent, I-" He was in front of me again. I had to look up at him and for the first time it didn't really bother me. He placed his left hand on the shelf beside my head and leaned forward. My breathing became faster. He smelled like warmed wine. That was a neat trick elves and vampires had. They could always draw in their prey with their intoxicating smells. Ivy had said I smelled familiar when the Druchii was in my head. She had smelled it before. I wondered if it was just that delicious elf smell or if it was the fact that it smelt like a ghost so reminded her of Pierce.

Trent saw the thoughts flickering across my face and knew my mind was somewhere else. "You figured something out didn't you?" He asked without giving me any space. He was close enough that all I would have to do was lean forward and I could make contact with his lips.

I smiled. "I was trying to figure out why the Druchii smelled so familiar to Ivy." As if on cue I heard a buzzing coming front Trent's pocket.

"Yes." Trent answered his phone, seeming quite irritated. He nodded twice then said we would be right there. He put the phone back in his pocket. "Lee is up. He may remember more than what you do."

He placed his other hand on the opposite side of the bookshelf by my head. I didn't move. I couldn't. I stayed completely still not knowing what Trent was about to do. He leaned forward until his lips were almost touching my ear. I felt my knees tremble but I wasn't about to let myself fall.

"I think it's about time that we talk about this relationship we seemed to have developed, Ms. Morgan." He whispered.

I opened my mouth to deny it but nothing came out. Who am I kidding? I couldn't lie about being attracted to the bastard when everyone knew that I was. I wasn't too sure we had a relationship but we definitely had something. I wanted to lean into him. I could feel the heat coming off of his body.

"Lee" Was all that I managed to get out, while I could feel him breathing on my ear and neck. It was sending tingles down my spine and it was becoming increasingly hard not to touch him. If he didn't back up soon he was going to find out just how attracted I was to him.

"Lee isn't going anywhere Rachel." He said as he closed the space between us. His body was pressed up against mine. I had been waiting to touch him since the first time I saw him in his office. I reached my hand up to run it through his hair. He didn't move. I leaned my head forward and let it rest on his shoulder. It felt nice being like this with someone. Kisten had been gone for so long. I didn't know if I was ready for this. I had just gotten to where I didn't think I hated Trent anymore. I felt my whole body relax and I leaned into Trent. I just wanted someone to be there for me. I missed that closeness, I missed being held.

Trent pulled away very gently. "Lets go talk to Lee."

He took my hand and led me to the door. His skin was warm and I found I didn't mind him holding my hand. Once out in the hallway he released it and I wasn't offended. I wasn't sure I would want anyone to know about what was developing between Trent and myself when I didn't even know yet. If this was something that was going to happen every time Trent and I were alone I thought about trying to be alone more often. By the time we made our way to the living room Lee was already sitting on the couch with Lucy in his lap. She was loving all the attention she was getting today.

"Hey there old man." Lee stood up and extended his hand to Trent. Trent smiled, taking his hand and patting him on the back. "So I should have known if this kind of trouble involved Rachel you wouldn't be far behind." Lee chuckled and returned to his seat.

"It appears that Ms. Morgan has a fair amount of difficulty staying away from disastrous situations." Trent smirked. "Do you remember anything?" He took the seat next to Lee and shifted Lucy to his own lap. I took the seat on the other side of Trent carefully leaving a fair amount of space between us. Lucy though, had other plans. She leaned over and grasped my hair. I had to move closer to Trent just so she wouldn't rip it out with her death grip.

"I do not always get into disastrous situations Trent." I sighed trying to remove Lucy's hand in the tangled mess that was my hair. I really did though. No matter how hard I try they seek me out. Both men turned their heads to look at me. "Okay. They seem to find me no matter what I do."

"Leave Rachel alone you two. She tries to stay out of trouble. She has helped both of you so I don't want to hear it." Ceri's tone was sharp as she bounced Ray in her lap and I assumed the pick on Rachel session was officially over.

"I remember sitting in a meeting at my desk in my office. Then there was someone else in my head. They read my mind. They knew who I was but little else about me. They made me end my meeting then jump the line over here. I don't even know how to jump them on my own!" Lee said getting more and more frustrated by the end of it. "I had no control. All it told me was that it needed to get to Rachel and that it needed you to do it."

Fan-freakin-tastic. I slumped further into the couch. I knew that it had to be after me, I just didn't know why. I had saved the elves! Why is it after me? How does it even know about the relationship I have with Trent if it's been in a bottle for 2000 years? Things weren't adding up. Someone else has to be involved. Trent had been watching me the whole time I had my little rant in my head. Lee was quiet and watched whatever was going unsaid pass between Trent and I.

"I agree Rachel. There has to be someone behind this that has had some sort of direct contact with you and the ever-after. The Druchii wouldn't pick you at random. If it was released in the ever-after someone had to have brought it to this side of the lines." Trent said.

Lee's eyes got huge. "Whoa! Trent, you can read her mind?"

Trent laughed. "Just her face Stanley. I do know Rachel pretty well."

I stuck my tongue out at both of them. I'm not sure if I liked it when they were together and not trying to kill each other, although I do enjoy not getting blown up. Lucy was starting to fuss now that I had gotten those chubby little fingers out of my hair. Ceri collected the girls and took them into the nursery. I needed to go home to get that charm for Trent. Ceri would be able to modify it to fit for summoning a soul. Ivy was probably wondering where Jenks and I had disappeared to. Jenks! Where was he?

"Uh, has anyone seen Jenks?" I asked finally remembering I hadn't seen him in a while.

"He's helping Quen out. They were doing a perimeter check when I got up." Lee answered. I felt better knowing he was with Quen. Jenks had thought about coming to work for Trent if I wasn't able to come back from the ever-after. I think he would like it here. The fascination elves had with pixies seemed to flatter Jenks much more than he would ever let on.

"I've got to head back to the church to get that charm. You and Lee probably need to talk about our little friend some more." I looked at Trent. I stood up and gathered my bag from one of the tables.

"Thanks Rachel. I owe you one." Lee said. He came over and surprised me with a hug. I returned it and gave him a huge smile.

"I'll walk you out." Trent stood and started moving toward the hall that led to the door. Trent and I walked in silence all the way to the front lot where my mini cooper sat.

"Jenks!" I yelled as soon as we were outside. He would hear me if he was out here with Quen. I leaned up against my car and looked at Trent. He came forward but stopped a few feet away from me. Oh. So we were back to giving Rachel her personal space now?

"I want to apologize for my behavior in the library. I'm not sure what came over me. If you are not ready to talk about...things because of your vampire I understand." Trent spoke so softly I could hardly hear him.

"I accept your apology although I believe it's not necessary seeing as you didn't really do anything Trent." My tone was flat and he could take that how ever he wanted. I saw something flicker behind his green eyes. I think I had just hurt his feelings. Now I felt like an ass. It wasn't necessarily because of Kisten but I didn't feel I needed to explain that to him. I shuffled my feet in hopes that Trent would keep the conversation going because I wasn't going to do it.

"Give me a call when you find that spell okay?" Trent said, finally meeting my eyes. I nodded. He moved forward and I sucked in my breathe. The man was just full of surprises today. His lips softly grazed my cheek. "See you later Rachel."

I stood there like an idiot. I watched him walk back into the house and all I could do was hold my hand to my cheek. He glanced back and I felt my face flush in embarrassment. I fumbled through my purse for my keys, needing to get out of here. Why can't I ever find things when I need them? I was going to let Ivy finally organize me if it would save me the trouble of looking like an unorganized oaf in front of Trent. I sat down and cracked the windows waiting for Jenks to get his pixy ass in the car.

"Finally." I said as he flew in through the passenger side and took his spot on the rear view mirror.

"Tink's little red panties! You sure smell an awfully lot like Trent." He grinned.

"Suck dish water Jenks." I threw the car into reverse and headed down the drive.


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter is a little different. I flip flopped between Trent and Rachel's point of view. Hope you guys like it!**

* * *

Chapter 6

**Trent POV**

I walked back inside and turned in time to see Rachel holding her face. I had not intended to kiss her but I desperately wanted us to have some sort of physical contact.

Quen cleared his throat beside me "Sa'han, I rather like the idea of you and Rachel."

I grinned at him. I knew about the subtle pushes Quen and Ceri were always giving me towards Rachel. I found Rachel attractive but the woman had a way of making me want to pull my own hair out. "We'll see what happens Quen." We continued down the hall and returned to the living room. Lee was still on the couch looking rather pale for a man that lived in California.

"So Trent, what's the deal with you and Rachel? I thought you guys had always had a hate-hate relationship?" Lee smiled.

I frowned. I didn't like Lee inquiring about the relationship that I did or didn't have with Rachel. It was something that I needed to figure out with Rachel, yet she seemed to enjoy avoiding necessary conversations.

"I'm not really sure Lee. We just have learned to get along quite well. She's a good person to have on your side." I decided was a suitable response.

Lee nodded but kept a smirk on his face. I had the urge to smack it off but I resisted seeing as Quen was watching me very closely. Ceri had returned and was standing by his side.

"Trenton, did something happen between you and Rachel?" She questioned.

"I don't know what you mean? We don't hate each other. I would even be as bold to say that she likes me Ceri." I smiled as I said it thinking about Rachel.

"That's wonderful!" Ceri gushed. "I had always thought you and Rachel would be a perfect match for one another."

Lee chuckled. "Until one of them pisses the other off and all hell breaks loose. Haven't you heard about the ability that woman has to get under your skin? I think it goes hand in hand with the red hair."

Quen finally spoke up, "Sa'han, you and Rachel have grown. You aren't the children you once were with the same petty arguments and wrongs done. She respects you, and you respect her. This would be a good thing for you Trenton. Not to mention she can keep your ego in check." He finished with a smile.

I had to smile back because he was right. "Well I do believe that is enough talk about Ms. Morgan. Ceri, we have a spell to make for Lee." I stood and Lee followed suit.

Ceri motioned for Lee to follow her to the kitchen. As I headed for the kitchen, Quen stopped me as the others left the room.

"Be careful with Rachel. She has changed and if she opens her heart to you she will open it fully. Do not ruin what you have worked so hard to accomplish with Ms. Morgan." Quen stated and entered the kitchen.

Now what was that supposed to mean?

* * *

**Rachel POV**

I pulled up in front of the church, happy to be home. Jenks had rambled the whole car ride back about Trent's gardens, Trent's security, Trent's compound, Trent, Trent, and more Trent. I stayed silent and listened to him talk about all of the great things Trent does, or has, or is capable of. I would swear he was trying to persuade me to date the elf if I didn't know any better. The things I could do with Trent kept popping into my head. The vision of him without his shirt on, standing behind my mother's car in the desert. The kiss we had shared in my kitchen was a memory that will never fade.

"Earth to Rachel!" Jenks was hovering right in front of my face.

I swatted at him. "What Jenks?"

"I've been talking to you for the past twenty minutes and all I've gotten is hmms and aahhs. What's up Rache?" He landed on the steering wheel.

"I was just thinking is all. I'm fine." I shoved my keys into my purse and went to get out of the car.

"What ya thinking about?" He questioned, hovering by my side. I didn't answer him.

I absentmindedly made my way into the kitchen heading straight to my spell books. Jenks was still rambling about what happened today and what my problem was. I hadn't been paying attention to anything that he had said until I saw Ivy sitting at the kitchen table. She had heard everything he had been saying probably since we had parked the car. My heart beat sped up but Jenks didn't seem to be bothered.

"Geez Rache, did you rub Trent all over you before you came home? You stink." Ivy said crinkling up her nose. The puzzled look on my face must have given Ivy the courage to say what she needed, after all she said she was moving on. "It's about time you two face up to the feelings you have for each other. You can't hate someone that much without feeling something else for them first."

"I-" I didn't even have the words. I hadn't thought about how I felt about Trent. He was someone I had hated and it had been my mission to take him down. Things weren't like that anymore, Trent was trying to be better. He helped a lot of people in a round about way. He had even done things to protect me. Why would he have done that if he hated me?

Jenks was standing on the center island looking down at one of the books I had gotten out. "I think the little cookie fart has gone soft on Rachel. He does a lot that you don't know about Rache. Look at how long he was taking care of law suits with David and you had no clue."

"I don't want to talk about Trent. I need to find the charm I used to call Pierce. The Druchii is still out there and I'm not waiting until it takes control of my mom to get to me." I flipped open the book realizing this wasn't the right book. I reached down and got the right one. Ivy and Jenks were silent thank God. "I just need to end this before someone gets hurt. I don't want that on my shoulders."

"Let me know if there is anything I can do to help." Ivy said as she stood and stretched towards the ceiling. "I've gotta go out. I'll be back before sun up." She was waiting for my approval to slake her needs.

I nodded my head as Ivy left the kitchen and a few seconds later I heard the front door slam. I had spent the past few hours at Trent's and couldn't believe it was almost dark out.

"Maybe you should call Al." Jenks said.

"I was just waiting for Ivy to leave." I said as I reached down and pulled out my scrying mirror. I sat down at the table and put my hand on the beautiful glass pentagram.

"Rachel calling Al. Al come in." I said this part out loud so that Jenks could at least hear one side of the conversation.

_What do you want Rachel? I'm sleeping._ Al said rather grumpily.

"Al, it came back. It used Lee this time." I said. Jenks had a worried look on his face.

_Damn my dame. I've told you about collecting nasty little men. What have you done to piss it off?_ Al was wide awake now and becoming increasingly irritated.

"I haven't done anything!" I whined. "Trent had a spell and I am able to keep it out of my head. We're doing the same for Lee. I can't do this for everyone that has ever had contact with me."

_Come to this side of the lines. I will keep you safe._ Al demanded.

"I don't like it there Al. I'm not coming over. I need your help finding out what it wants from me? Why is it after me?" I asked Al.

He sighed. He was going to help. I could already hear him plotting in his thoughts.

_I"ll see what I can find out._ Then he cut the connection off.

"He's going to see what he can find out." I told Jenks, feeling a little better about the situation.

"Now time to call Trent." Jenks grinned and pointed to the spell book.

* * *

**Trent POV**

I heard my phone ringing as I stepped into my bedroom. I hurried over to answer it knowing it was Rachel. She was the only person authorized to ring in on this line.

"Hey." I said as I answered knowing after I said it that it had sounded weird coming from me.

"Uh hey." Rachel responded. "I found the charm. I talked to Al too. He's seeing what he can find out for me from his side of the lines."

I paused. I hated that she still had to talk to that demon, that she wanted to talk to that demon.

"Good. The more information we have the better." I tried to sound nonchalant. I didn't want her to know that I was a little jealous of the relationship she had with him. "When are you bringing the spell?"

I had hoped she would come back right away but I didn't want to pressure her. I knew she would scare easily if I pushed too hard and that was the last thing I wanted to do. If I was going to be honest with myself I hadn't even wanted her to leave. Rachel was perfectly capable of protecting herself but I felt like I needed to protect her too. Danger found her like a magnet.

"I was thinking soon?" She questioned.

She did want to see me again? I smiled to myself.

"How about eight?" I asked. "Maggie can make us a late dinner." I knew I had her with the idea of Maggie's cooking.

"Make it waffles and you got a deal elf boy." Rachel sounded excited.

"Deal." I said. "See you then Rachel."

I hurried down to the kitchen to tell Maggie about the dinner arrangements. As I was walking out, I bumped into Ceri.

"Excuse me. I didn't see you." I said and caught her before she could fall back.

She smiled. "Thinking about Rachel again?" She must have heard me tell Maggie that Rachel would be here at eight for dinner. I could deny it or just tell the truth and maybe get some helpful advice from her.

"Yes." I said. "She's on my mind all the time, even when I sleep I dream of her. I can't get her out of my head Ceri. I don't know what she feels for me anymore."

Ceri didn't look surprised. "Just be honest with her of your intentions. Rachel values honesty and trust in her friends. Do not mislead her in matters of the heart. That is something she will never forgive you for."

I simply nodded my head and continued on the way to my office. I knew the truth in her words as she spoke them. She reminded me of Quen. I couldn't mislead Rachel even if I wanted to. I felt like I was far too invested in this to go back now. Rachel had saved me from myself. She made me a better person. She gave me my daughter. My life would never be the same again and I owed that to Rachel. Now if I could find a way to say all of these things to her...

I had some time to kill before she would arrive and I decided to go over the numbers for the week. The brimstone production was right on target. I tried not to think about Rachel's words on my activities. Murdering, drug-lord, bastard I believe was her choice phrase. It bothered me more than I had let her know. She knew all of the reasons behind my activities and seeing as she wasn't as white as she use to be I thought she would understand. I frowned, I didn't want to think about the way Rachel use to look at me.

I wanted her to look at me like she would any other man that showed a romantic interest in her, only I had not shown that much of an interest. I could never quite read her emotions towards me. She kept them carefully bottled away. We were so much a like, no wonder she thought I hated her for so long.

* * *

**Rachel POV**

I pulled up at Trent's gatehouse and was waved through. I wonder if I will ever have to stop again? I decided to leave Jenks at home and he seemed plenty happy with the idea. He didn't want to sit around all night and watch the elf and the witch avoid their almost relationship like a bunch of stupid lunkers. His words not mine.

I pulled into the front parking lot and it was Trent that met me at the door, not Quen. That is unusual. I looked him up and down. This was the most dressed down I had ever seen him. He was wearing a black v-neck t-shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers. I didn't even know Trent owned sneakers. He pulled off the look nicely, making him look younger. I looked down at myself. I had opted for blue jeans and a white halter top, and my kick ass black boots.

"Hi." I said as I got out of the car, grabbing the spell book.

"Hi." He said in return and took the book out of my arms. We walked in silence through his compound but it wasn't awkward. We took a seat at the small table outside of the kitchen. It already had a bowl of fresh strawberries and a pot of coffee. I poured myself a cup. Just as I started to sip Maggie came out of the kitchen carrying a large plate with waffles. My mouth watered just smelling them. She set them down in the middle of the table and added another bowl of strawberries.

"Thank you Maggie. This is wonderful." I said with a huge smile.

"You're welcome dear." Maggie answered. "Will there be anything else Mr. Kalamack?"

"No Maggie, thank you. Please take the rest of the evening off." Trent smiled at Maggie.

"Such a dear." She said as she patted him on the shoulder and headed back to the kitchen.

"I want one." I said to Trent.

"Help yourself Rachel." He gestured toward the waffles.

"Not a waffle. I want a Maggie." I smiled.

"I am not sharing her with anyone." He chuckled.

I loaded my plate with two waffles and almost a whole bowl of strawberries. I felt like a pig until I saw Trent's plate and suddenly wasn't so worried. How was the man so thin?

"Where is everyone?" I asked around a mouth full of waffle.

Trent waited to respond until he was done chewing. "Most of the staff leave by 7. Ceri and Quen have the girls somewhere around here."

"Oh." I couldn't really think of what else to say so I went back to chewing. We continued on like that until our plates were empty.

"Rachel, I feel like I should apologize for earlier." Trent said meeting my eyes.

"Don't." I answered quickly. "Don't make it into more than what it was."

"I just didn't know if I was over stepping my boundaries with you." Trent explained.

"You would have gotten my foot in your gut had you been." I smiled at him.

"I have no doubt that you would have made it very clear." He said dryly.

"Can we please just talk about something else for now?" I pleaded. I wasn't ready to have this conversation when I didn't even know what I was feeling.

"You found the charm?" He asked, wiping his mouth with a linen napkin and moving onto the next subject with a polished grace.

"Yeah. I would have to perform it though." I said sourly. "It requires a collective."

"You can perform a spell that would take a collective of witches on your own?" He asked clearly impressed.

"I can only do it because I'm a demon." I finished off the bowl of strawberries.

"This is the same charm you used for your ghost?" He questioned, looking over the spell in the book.

"Yup. The same one Al tried to sell you." I said, not sure if bringing up that night was a good idea.

"I want Ceri to go over it with us. I'm not sure we would be able to modify it enough to work." Trent had taken on a seriousness to him that I assume was usually saved for his business meetings.

"Sure, no problem." I responded. "How's Lee? Is he still here?"

Trent closed the book. "He's doing pretty well taking into consideration that he had an evil elf in his head. He's in one of the guest rooms. I requested that he stay for a day to monitor him."

"Why did I recover so quickly then?" I asked Trent, genuinely confused.

"Honestly Rachel, I don't know. Maybe it's because you're a demon and Lee isn't? It may be something we will never figure out." Trent's eyes darkened. There was a hard look of determination behind them. I liked that Trent was on my side.

"Does Ceri know more about the Druchii than she's shared with me?" I asked. I saw Trent's eyes tighten slightly and I knew the answer to my question. Damn them. I needed all the information if I was going to help.

"I will tell you everything I know Rachel." Trent said, and I knew he was telling the truth. He launched into the details that Ceri had shared while I was gone. It turns out not all of the Druchii were dead. The demons believe they are still hiding in the ever-after. How they had stayed alive all those years no one knew. It was all rumors of course but with the ever-after it was better to believe than to not believe.

I felt my breathing increase. I couldn't get my body to respond how I wanted it to. I was losing control. No. Not again. I couldn't hear or feel anything else in my thoughts but I couldn't slow down how fast I was breathing.

"Rachel?" Trent moved to my chair and looked into my eyes. "Shit!"

I had never heard him swear like that. Mister elf has a potty mouth. I felt light headed. I wasn't getting enough air and I think I was going to pass out.

"Quen! Ceri!" Trent yelled.

He lifted me out of the chair and I slumped my head against his chest. I liked it when he smelled like the forest. My eyes fluttered shut.

"No, Rachel stay awake." Trent said in my ear.

I tried to open my eyes but I didn't want to. I just needed to rest for a while. I heard Ceri and Quen come into the room. Trent must have sat down on the couch, but he was still holding me tightly in his arms.

"It's trying to get back in." Trent whispered in a panic.

"No!" I yelled and tried to sit up, which really wasn't working for me. I had my eyes open again but little else was working the way I wanted it to. I was so warm lying in Trent's arms and if I could just go to sleep for a few minutes...

"You have to fight it." Ceri said. She looked determined and that helped. If Ceri thought I was strong enough to do this, then I could do it.

"Stupid elf." I murmured.

"Who is she talking to?" Ceri asked.

"I don't know." Trent replied.

"All of you can suck dandelions. We did the spell. It can't come in." I managed to get out, hardly keeping my eyes open. As my confidence in the spell returned I felt a haze wash over me. It tasted like spring. Wild magic. I could breathe again.

I felt Trent exhale beside me as my breathing returned to normal. "You have to believe in the elven magic you use for it to work Rachel."

"Should have told me...you..you...fairy-fart." I felt so tired, I wasn't sure anyone could understand me as I slurred my words.

"Real mature." Trent said. "I think she's okay."

Yeah, I was okay. I was going to go to sleep now, and the elves better leave me alone.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I woke up in Ellasbeth's old room, the same one I was always in when I needed a room at Trent's place. I stretched my body out finally feeling like I had gotten some quality sleep. I wasn't sure what time it was seeing as there were no windows or clocks in here. I sighed. I did not want to get up. The bed was like sleeping on marshmallows and at this rate I wouldn't leave.

I heard a soft knock on the door. I don't know how but they always seemed to know the moment I woke up. Must be that elf hearing.

"Come in." I said, propping myself up on an elbow. I was expecting to see Ceri or even Trent but in walked Quen.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, sitting in one of the chairs nearest to the bed.

I smiled at him. "I feel loads better after getting some sleep."

Quen nodded. He had a pained look on his face. Oh God. He had something to tell me and I wasn't going to like it. I knew there was more to this Druchii business than everyone was telling me.

"What?" My tone was flat.

"I am concerned." He began, then stopped to take a deep breathe.

"God Quen just spit it out would ya? Is it the Druchii?" I was becoming impatient.

His dark eyes met mine. They were a very unusual shade, almost a silver behind his normal color. "No." He fidgeted with his fingers. Why is he nervous? He's going to do something against Trent's wishes. The moment that thought crossed my face, Quen smirked.

"Sa'han does not know I am speaking to you Ms. Morgan." He grimaced. "I am concerned about the relationship you seem to have developed with Trenton."

Crap on toast. He was here talking to me about the relationship that I have with Trent? He really reminded me of my father. He sort of is like a father figure to Trent, since Quen had practically raised him. I let out a loud sigh. I did not want to have this talk with him. Hell I didn't even want to have this talk with Trent.

"Quen..." I started. "Sometimes I just wonder if the fight is worth while."

Quen contemplated my words before answering. "I've watched Trenton change. You've had a relationship since you were children despite either one of you remembering it. I'm not sure it is healthy for the two of you. You are a demon. He has his business interests. I've seen the way he looks at you. This is going down a path you may not want it to go Ms. Morgan."

"Trent can get his own dates. He doesn't need me." I said snidely. I didn't feel that way but hey a white lie isn't going to hurt anyone.

Quen patiently waited for a better response. I was set on not giving it to him. I really didn't want to have this talk with anyone. After several minutes passed I realized Quen was not going to leave until I said something.

"I don't care that I'm a demon. The fact has nothing to do with Trent. We aren't a couple Quen so tell me what the hell it is that you want?" I was getting angry.

"I am just trying to confirm the nature of the relationship that you have with Trenton." He said.

"I don't have one. Happy? There is nothing going on. Besides I couldn't get past his 'business interests' to have one anyways." I didn't mean it, knowing it even as I said it out loud.

"You're the perfect person. Let's all live in your imaginary life." Quen barked.

My jaw dropped. I felt my face redden at his unspoken accusation. I knew a lot of the things I have done were shades of gray. I couldn't live my life in black and white anymore and Quen was throwing it in my face. My temper flared and I jumped out of the bed and got right into Quen's face as I tapped the line.

"Try me Rachel." He said smugly, as he stood.

"Quen I don't want to hurt-" I yelled getting cut short by the door bursting open.

Trent was angry and I suddenly wished I was still asleep. Swell. I loved having two pissed off elves in the same room.

"_Quod dat vos ius!_" Trent's words were like ice through me. I had no idea what he said but I was sure it wasn't good especially if he wasn't speaking English.

"I apologize Sa'han. Ms. Morgan and I seem to have a misunderstanding. My apologies Ms. Morgan." Quen left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Trent, what just happened here?" I was confused by Quen's behavior. It was not like him at all.

Trent was rigidly pacing back and forth across the room. His face was deep in thought. "What did he say to you Morgan?"

"I believe he implied that a relationship between us would be unhealthy." I whispered, my heart dropping.

Trent snorted. "That does not sound like Quen."

"It wasn't Quen." I had a horrified look on my face. Trent turned and it was like looking in a mirror. We both ran for the door.

"Quen!" I yelled. I followed Trent, unsure of where Quen's rooms were located.

We made it to the common room and Ceri stood at our outburst. She seemed confused and she hovered over the girls protectively as they sat playing with their toys on the floor.

"Where is Quen?" I asked her.

"I haven't seen him in a while. Why? Rachel, what's going on?" Ceri's voice was full of concern.

"It's in him Ceri." Trent whispered.

The color drained from Ceri's face and she flew into motion. I didn't know if I should stay or go but before I would let Trent make that decision I was on Ceri's heels. We moved through the hall to a door I had never been through. This must be their bedroom. As we entered the room I felt Ceri tap the line. I could feel the anger rolling off of her and I felt sorry for Quen. He was in for some pain.

Ceri stopped in front of the bed. Quen was lounging across it looking like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Rachel get your circle up." Ceri demanded. I immediately circled the whole bed including Ceri and myself. Quen grinned. God how could this thing be enjoying all of this that much?

"What do you want from us?" Ceri asked.

"I want Rachel." Was the response that came from Quen.

"Why? What do you want with me?" I questioned.

"That is not of import." Quen's body answered.

"Troll turds it's not of import!" I yelled. "Tell me what you want now. I'm going to get you out of Quen's body whether you want me to or not."

Ceri stiffened. She knew what I would have to do to get the Druchii to leave.

"_Congelo." _Ceri said with such force I could feel the line energy pass into Quen with her words. Quen went completely still, eyes open and unblinking.

"Ceri, what did you do?" I asked horrified.

"He will be still now. I didn't want him struggling and getting injured." Ceri said. "Remove it, please. I want it out of him."

I couldn't be mad when she was only trying to keep him safe. I had never seen anyone perform a charm where they can freeze ones body. I began to push energy into Quen. I wasn't sure how much he could take but I remember Trent had used an awful lot to get the Druchii out of Lee. I hoped I could do this without Trent's assistance.

"Here goes nothing." I said. I began to chant the words in Quen's thoughts. I didn't fully understand how I could project them there without physically touching him but I guess using him as a focusing object was enough.

_T____ela__ sina templa, tessa i' uuvanimo, eithel ne sii', kela, yaara er._ I kept repeating the words finding it weird that I couldn't hear anything in his thoughts, not the Druchii or Quen. Ceri had even frozen his mind? She had moved to his side and was clasping his hand as I added more line energy to him. His body started to twitch. Ceri squeezed him tighter knowing this was all she could do to help him. After I was sure I was channeling enough energy through Quen that it would have even kicked Al on his can, I performed the hand gesture I had seen Trent use.

___"Movere."_ Ceri whispered. Quen's eyes fluttered but he didn't speak. She leaned over him and gazed into his eyes._ "_It's him." Quen blinked once more, squeezed Ceri's hand, and closed his eyes.

xxx

Ceri had decided to remain with Quen until he woke. I don't think anyone could have gotten her to leave his side. The Druchii having free reign of possessing people around me needed to end_. _I felt responsible for yet another person I cared about being in danger. I was like the plague, leaving carnage everywhere I went.

Trent had laid the girls down and was sitting at the other end of the couch in the common room with me. His expression was smooth and we had been sitting in silence for some time. He smelled like wine and I was just waiting for him to say what was on his mind. I wanted to tell him that I was a disaster and that I needed to stay clear of him and his family.

"I'm not going to abandon you to handle this on your own Rachel." Trent met my eyes, his tone serious.

"Swell. So I guess you're next on the list." I said sourly.

"When are you going to realize the best chance we have with both of us coming through this unscathed is to do it together?" Trent sighed.

"I know." I admitted. "I hate that all of you are in danger because of me."

"I made a promise. I'd take a bullet for you if it comes to that." His words rolled off his tongue like spun sugar warming me to my core. I didn't want to go through this alone. Trent was just strong enough to see me through it but weak enough to still need me, but I didn't want him risking his life when he had his girls to care for. I couldn't fathom the thought of him not being here.

I know these thoughts I was having now should help me decide how I felt about Trent but they didn't. They only confused me further. We had both risked our lives for the other even when there was so much hate between us we could hardly hold a conversation. What made me hate him so much? I've been trying to figure it out for months now and wasn't coming up with any answers. I never understood what made our relationship so unpredictable.

My puzzled look had flagged Trent's attention but I was ignoring his intense eyes. I was scared for what I would see behind them. I could figure out so much from his eyes. They were his tell for everything. They had such depth, that I felt like I was looking straight into his soul.

"Can I share a memory with you?" He asked knowing where my thoughts had drifted to.

"Yes..." I hesitantly answered.

He scooted closer and gathered my hands in his and set them down in my lap. "Do you trust me Rachel?"

"I do." I relaxed breathing in his scent. He tapped the line and not knowing what he was about to do yet I utterly and completely trusted him.

___"Ego mos vos ut memor."_ His words were soft and I closed my eyes as I felt the haze from his charm wash over me. I could still feel Trent's hands in mine but I wasn't in the living room anymore. It must work kind of like a Pandora charm.

_We were back at his father's camp. It was my last year there. The sun was just starting to set and I was sitting on the dock, my feet dangling in the lake. Jasmine and I had a fight so I wanted to be alone. I had been crying, still feeling the tears roll down my cheeks. _

_ I heard someone walking up behind me but I didn't turn, thinking that it was Jasmine coming to apologize. I was surprised as Trent sat down beside me. I gave him a weak smile. _

_ "I'm sorry Jasmine is mad at you for riding with me." He said as he removed his shoes and __dipped his feet in the water. _

_ "It's okay. She's just jealous because she thinks I'm trying to steal you from her." I explained. _

_ "You can't steal something that doesn't belong to her." He looked into my eyes. _

_ I sucked in my breath, my heart beating faster. He moved his arm quickly towards me causing me to jump. _

_ "Sorry." He apologized but finished the action of lifting his hand to wipe the tears from my face. _

_ "Thanks." I didn't know what else to say. It was the first time I had been touched by a boy. _

_ "My father told me that you and I would work together someday." Trent whispered._

_ "How does your father know what we will do when we grow up?" I asked, not understanding how he could be so sure. _

_ "Fate. Destiny. Some things are meant to be." Trent explained._

_ "So our fates are bound together?" I questioned. _

_ "That's what I'm told." His response was simple and he kicked at the water. _

_ "Well I'm going to make my own fate." I was determined to be everything that I wanted to be and what Trent's father said wasn't going to make a difference. _

_ "Tell me that in ten years." He had a huge smile on his face. _

_ I laughed. "I will. I bet we won't even like each other in ten years. You'll probably hate me." _

_ Trent's smile turned into a frown. "I could never hate you Rachel." _

_ A breeze blew across the lake and I shivered despite the warm temperature. Trent moved closer to where his side was pressed to mine. _

_ "You're sensitive to the cold." Trent said. "I can help you stay warm. If you want." He sounded shy. _

_ "Okay." I didn't know what was going to happen next but my heart beat sped up even more. _

_ He draped his arm across my shoulders and I felt a warm tingling go into me. He was using ley line energy to keep me warm. My eyes widened and eyebrows rose as I turned slightly to look at Trent's face. He looked smug._

_ "I didn't know you knew how to use the ley lines." I was so surprised. _

_ "There is a lot that you don't know about me." He stared out over the lake as the sun finished sinking down behind the trees. _

_ We sat in silence until all the light from the sky was gone and was filled with stars. I started dozing off on Trent's shoulder until we both jumped as someone was calling my name. He quickly removed his arm, taking the energy with him. I hadn't noticed how cold it had gotten. I hopped up and slid my shoes on. _

_ "I have to go. Thanks for keeping me warm." I smiled at him. I think this is what you're supposed to do when a boy has been nice to you. _

_ Trent slowly rose and put his shoes on. "I can show you how to do it sometime. You know, if you want to." He looked at the ground, unsure of himself._

_ "Yes!" I exclaimed. "I would like to learn if you want to show me."_

_ He smiled. "I promise. I can show you so much." _

_ "Cool." I smiled back at him. _

_ He moved forward and I was nervous. Is this going to be like it was in the movies? Is he going to try to kiss me? I closed my eyes not knowing what I was supposed to do. I felt Trent gently kiss my cheek. I was slightly disappointed and opened my eyes. He was still standing right in front of me with his eyes closed. Maybe this was the first time he had kissed a girl? I gathered my courage and leaned forward and kissed him on his lips. They were soft and he tasted like cinnamon._

I opened my eyes and we were back in the common room. My mouth was open in shock. How could I have lost the memory of my first kiss? Trent was my first kiss? He gently released my hands but didn't move away. I turned to look at him. He had his emotions hidden carefully under that blank look he was giving me.

"Was I your first kiss?" I asked him.

"Yes." He whispered.

We sat in silence. I went over the memory in my head again and again. It was the words he had quoted from his father that echoed louder than anything else. How are our fates bound together? I knew Trent and I had ties to each other that we didn't have with anyone else. I wondered if that notebook of his father's would contain any of the answers I was looking for?

"How are we bound together? I don't understand." I was confused and my face let it show.

"I honestly have never been able to answer that question. The only two people that I believe would know are not alive." Trent was irritated. "I've wondered if my father performed a charm to somehow bind our destiny's together. I have yet to find any proof of it."

"He didn't Sa'han." Quen answered as he came into the room. I jumped. Damn sneaky elves. "But your mother did. She bound your destiny to Ms. Morgan's. The spell breaks when you end the war."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Tink blasted fairy dildo!" I was so angry I was having a hard time figuring out what I was trying to say. How could Trent's mother do this? Trent and Quen looked at me like I had grown a second head.

"Rachel?" Trent shifted away from me.

"This is crap. No, this is shit! Why? Why does something so unbelievable always have to happen to me?" I ranted, standing and waving my arms. Yes, the crazy witch was coming out. "I'm not doing this! My fate is not bound to yours." I pointed my finger at Trent.

"Calm down. It doesn't change anything." Trent tried to soothe me but I wasn't letting that voice of liquid silk do it this time.

I turned on Quen poking him in the chest. "And you! You've known about this and not said a damn word! To the turn with both of you." I started stomping towards the front. I know I must have looked like a child throwing a fit but I didn't care. I was done with all this elven magic. Trent's family had messed with my life enough. I wasn't going to let them do it from the grave. What gave them the right to decide our futures?

I heard someone behind me and from the smell of sour wine and grass I knew it was Trent. I'm not going to listen to anything the little cookie maker has to say. The voice in the back of my head kept saying that I would. The turn take it! I know that I would listen to Trent and it pissed me off.

I was all the way to my car before Trent grabbed my arm. I yanked it back and looked at the sky. It was so dark, no stars or moon. The complete blackness seemed to compliment my mood. There was a slight breeze and I shivered.

"Rachel, please." Trent whispered.

"What Trent? What could you possibly say that will make anything about this situation better?" I snapped at him. It wasn't his fault and I knew that. It wasn't right to blame him for the things his family had done. He didn't even know if it was true until five minutes ago. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself before I bit his head off again.

"I need you." He said it so quietly I almost didn't hear him.

"Beg pardon?" I had to be sure of what he just said.

"I need you Rachel. I can't do this without you." Trent looked into my eyes.

I was silent. What could I say? I need you too but I'm too chicken to tell you? I wouldn't say anything. I didn't know what I was feeling anymore and it was safer to keep my mouth shut. I was tired of making rash decisions about attractive men that needed me. It always came back to bite me in my demon ass.

"I need to go home Trent. I'm emotionally spun. I've gotta think okay?" I finally responded.

He nodded his head. I climbed into the car without another word. How could I leave when he just told me he needed me? _Because you're a stupid witch and you're going to blame the only man that has ever told you not to change who you are..._ I was down the drive before I knew it, not even slowing to make sure the gate was open.

* * *

I woke up to Ivy climbing onto my bed. _What the hell! _She moved so fast and had her hand over my mouth before I could even open it.

"Ssshhhh. There's someone in the church." She whispered, releasing my mouth. Crap on toast. I was tired of this. Didn't these people know witches slept during the day?

"Who is it?" I whispered back, as she eased off my bed so I could get up.

"Jenks is finding out. I could smell them. I thought you were possessed by the Druchii again." Ivy whispered. She was deep in thought and missed the terrified look on my face. My breathing hitched and I felt Ivy stiffen as my fear hit her.

"Sorry." I squeaked, feeling bad about not being able to control my emotions. We heard a crash of breaking glass from the sanctuary. Ivy and I were out of my room in a heartbeat only to be stopped at the front of the hall by Jenks. He was dusting black and he had his sword drawn.

"He's out in the front. I hit him with one of Rachel's splat balls when he went through the window. He's an elf." Frustration showed in his features.

"An elf? Swell." I rolled my eyes. "Lets get him inside."

Ivy and I ran outside to find a man sprawled in an awkward position in the front yard. He was out cold from a sleepy time charm. Ivy and I lifted him by his shoulders and drug him inside. For once I was grateful for the drama unfolding early in the morning so all the neighbors didn't have to witness it. We dropped him on the floor of the sanctuary. He didn't look like anyone I had seen before but that didn't mean he didn't know exactly who I was.

"I don't know who he is but he sure smells familiar." Jenks was hovering between Ivy and I taking in the broken window and the unknown elf on the floor.

"He does Rachel. I've smelled him before." Ivy's eyes lost a little brown.

"He's out though so unless someone pours saltwater on him he isn't going anywhere." I stated. Could today get any worse?

Ivy got the phone book out of the end table and snatched the phone. I guess we would need to fix the glass. I sighed. It was only eight thirty in the morning. Much too early for us to be awake. I hadn't slept well after telling Ivy and Jenks about everything that had happened at Trent's. When I'd finally gotten into a deep enough sleep I would dream about camp. Trent was in the background of a lot of those memories. I wonder if he was actually there or if it was just wishful thinking. I wanted my memories back. I couldn't help but wonder if there were more memories that Trent knew from when we were children but wasn't sharing.

I retrieved the broom from the kitchen and started sweeping the glass that had fallen inside. I heard Ivy telling the glass company that she would double their quote if they could have the new glass installed before noon. The gentle sound of the broom on the floor was strangely comforting. Trent's lips against mine tasting of cinnamon when we were kids kept playing over and over in my head.

"If you don't answer me I'm gonna pix you!" Jenks was in front of my face.

"What?" Confused I stopped sweeping to look at him.

"What's going on with you Rache? You're out of it a lot these past few days." He landed on my shoulder.

"I was just thinking Jenks. I didn't hear you." I swept the glass I had piled together into the dust pan. Not waiting for his response I asked, "Do you think I should call Trent? Maybe he knows who it is?"

"Rache! I just told you to call the little cookie maker. You're as bad as my kids. Never listen to a damn word that I say then act like you came up with the idea on your own." Jenks ranted.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to call them already?" I asked Ivy. We had an unconscious elf on our floor and no idea what we were going to do with him. We couldn't just shove him in a closet when they came to fix the window.

I sighed. Ivy was eying us from the couch. Her motions were quick as she approached us.

"Hey Ivy, don't you think Rache should call fairy-farts and let him know about our visitor?" Jenks asked.

"I don't know Jenks. Are we sure we can trust Trent?" Ivy wouldn't look at me.

"I trust him. Completely." I answered feeling my anger flare.

"No offense Rachel but look at your history with men. You haven't always put your trust in the right ones. There is something not right about any of this. How do you know he's not in on it?" Ivy stated, grabbing the dustpan of glass from me and going into the kitchen. Why is she getting so worked up about Trent? I thought Ivy had gotten past all of this with him.

"Rache?" I had forgotten Jenks was on my shoulder. I slowly made my way into the kitchen, leaving our intruder behind.

Ivy had started a pot of coffee, seeing as neither one of us was going to be able to go back to sleep especially with our unknown elf on the sanctuary floor. She was sitting in her chair, tapping away at the computer. I leaned against the counter and turned to Ivy.

"I trust Trent. Whatever is happening, he had nothing to do with it." I said confidently. I was trying to keep the anger out of my voice but it was no use. Ivy knew my emotions before I did.

"I trust him too." She said, smirking up at me. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't have any doubts about him."

"She's smooth." Jenks chuckled in my ear.

I wasn't in the mood for vampire trust games. I had bigger fish to fry..or elves for that matter. I walked back towards the living room to retrieve the phone.

"Tell him to get his ass over here before I have elf for breakfast!" Ivy hollered.

"No eating the suspects Ivy." I muttered.

Jenks laughed. "She heard you Rache."

I dialed Trent's number.

"Good morning, Kalamack Industries. This is Sara Jane, how may I help you?" I was put through to his secretary? I couldn't remember the last time that had happened. I didn't think our fight last night was that big of a deal but maybe it was.

"This is Rachel Morgan. I need to speak to Trent." I said politely.

"I'm sorry Ms. Morgan. Mr. Kalamack is tending to a very important issue and can not be disturbed." Sara Jane said sweetly.

I did not have the patience for this so early in the morning. "Sara Jane, if you don't get Trent on the phone right now I'm dumping off 160 pounds of elf at his gate in twenty minutes." I responded just as sweetly.

"Hold please." She said rather abruptly. The elevator music clicked on. I really should tell him to get something better to listen to. Maybe some Takata.

"Rachel?" Trent's voice sounded confused. I wonder if he was screening my calls or if he really was busy. I refused to feel bad for interrupting a business meeting.

"Hey Trent. So I've got 160 pounds of elf for ya. You wanna come get him or shall I drop him off?" I couldn't help but be a little frustrated with him.

He sighed. "We seem to have the same problem."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"He just told you he has his own elf problem witch." Jenks added, listening from my shoulder. "Maybe his is talking? Ours sure isn't saying much." He chuckled.

"What did you do to him?" Trent asked hearing Jenks' comment.

"He was hit with a sleep charm." I said whacking at Jenks to get off my shoulder. He chuckled and flew back into the kitchen.

"How long will he be out?" I could hear Trent brainstorming.

"Until he gets dosed with saltwater." I said.

"Good. Keep it that way. Quen and I will be there shortly." Trent hurriedly responded.

"Okay." I was barely able to say before the phone clicked off.

* * *

There were two unconscious elves on the sanctuary floor. _What's wrong with having two identical elves unconscious in your church? _Everything was wrong about this. I wondered if the I.S. found us if I could be charged with kidnapping? Maybe they would accuse us of cloning or some other genetic practice that had long been outlawed. Identical twins were pretty rare, especially elven ones.

The elves were completely identical down to what they were wearing. Both men appeared to be around the same age as myself, about the same height, with long blonde hair. We had learned fairly quickly that what you did to one the other would have a similar reaction. Jenks had enjoyed testing that theory out with his sword. Trent hadn't bothered to tell me that his elf had suddenly dropped unconscious probably at the same time that Jenks had hit ours with the potion.

Quen had brought out my five gallon container of dissolution but I wasn't sure we should wake them up. I had tried to insist we circle them before dousing them but then at least one of us would have to be inside the circle with them. Quen and Ivy argued with me for a good ten minutes before Trent finally backed me up that the circle was a good idea. I had drawn one with metallic chalk just for good measure and had the vat inside ready to soak the elves.

Just as I tapped the line to put up my circle Trent jumped in.

"Sa'han!" Quen reached for him but it was too late, his hand crashing into my circle. I smiled, my mood getting increasingly better knowing Trent had my back. Quen frowned, moving to stand near Ivy and Jenks waiting to see what was going to happen.

"Ready for this?" I asked and lifted the vat and flung it on the elves. They slowly sat up mirroring each others actions. This was so weird. It was unusually quiet as everyone was focusing their attention on the elves. When a few moments had passed and neither one of them spoke, I turned to Trent.

"Who are you?" He asked them. They both just stared at Trent and did not respond.

"Maybe you can be a little more persuasive..." I said quietly, hoping that Trent got the hint I was giving him. He had used an enthrallment charm in my kitchen before so I knew he was perfectly capable of getting the information from our intruders.

"Are you going to yell at me again for using a black charm in your church?" He asked sharply.

"No." I snapped. "We need the information and I'd rather have it sooner than later."

"You're always yelling at me Rachel, all I ever do is try to help you!" Trent raised his voice. He never lets his emotions show like this. Just as quickly, my anger at Trent hit me.

"Help me! Like the time you put me in the rat fights? How was that supposed to help me Tren-t?" I said hitting the t hard.

"You weren't in any danger!" He exclaimed. "Why do you keep bringing up the past!"

"I had to fight for my life! If I hadn't been in that damn pit I never would have met Nick! I never would have gotten my first demon mark! I might not even know right now that I am a demon!"

"Stop using all these excuses to avoid your feelings!" Trent yelled.

"I'm not avoiding my feelings!" I yelled. My emotions were out of control but I had a point to make. I let the anger continue to wash over me. The elf had another thing coming if he thought I was done.

"You are too scared to admit that you might actually feel something for me other than hate Rachel!" Trent yelled.

"I am not scared! I know exactly how I feel about you and I can admit it anytime I want!" I yelled.

"Hey guys..." Jenks tried to get our attention. I faintly heard him but I had other priorities.

"Shut up Jenks!" Trent and I both shouted at the same time.

"Listen up you stupid lunkers!" Jenks tried again, his attempts going unheard.

"If you would just admit it I would still have all my fingers Rachel! Your demon would have known I was protecting you not hurting you!"

"I told you I was sorry and that I can fix that! Shouldn't you have some ability to do it yourself being an elf and all?" I shouted.

"The world wouldn't know that I was an elf if it wasn't for you and your mother!" Trent yelled, red faced and breathing hard. The voice in the back of my mind was telling me to stop, this wasn't right. Something was feeding our anger but I couldn't stop, all the while ignoring the other elves in the circle.

"Rachel, Trent, you need to stop. There are more important things to deal with now than the two of you bickering!" Ivy added and we both ignored her, hardly hearing her words.

"To the Turn with you Trent! I was cursed to the ever-after because of you!" I walked up and poked him in the chest. "This is all your fathers fault!"

"Sa'han." Quen said.

"You cross a line Morgan..." Trent replied rather calmly. I sliver of fear slid down my spine at his words but I refused to back down.

"No! You cross a line you stupid...hey!" I yelped. Someone had grabbed my legs and tackled me from the back. I went sprawling forward, knocking Trent down in the process and crashed into my circle causing it to drop. Ivy and Quen leapt into action, heading straight for the twins. Everything happened so fast. I heard Jenks in my ear telling me to get my witch ass up. Ivy growled and I heard someone hit the floor in a loud thump. I felt more than one person tap the line and I knew I needed to move faster. I regained my balance and turned in time to see the twins on top of Trent and they were going to jump the line. I couldn't let that happen.

"Shit!" I yelled, jumping forward and trying to grab for Trent but only getting air. He was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Several hours had passed with no sign of Trent. I had a sinking feeling that he was in the ever-after so I immediately had called Al and tried to get him to jump me over. He refused saying that looking for my nasty little elf wasn't a good enough reason to give me a trip through the lines. After using a few choice words that had involved frying some of his important guy parts he said he would go take a look around for Trent. I knew he wasn't going to do it but I had to try. The repair men had come and gone fixing the window in a record amount of time. I'm sure it had something to do with an angry vamp and a pissed off demon breathing down their necks but I didn't care.

Quen had went to the compound and picked up Ceri and the girls. My church was trashed but Lucy and Ray were staying entertained by all the pixy children. Who knew 52 kids would be such good babysitters? Ceri was on her fourth charm trying to find Trent, but we were still coming up empty. I had offered to help but Ceri wasn't having it. The waiting was almost unbearable and I blamed myself for Trent getting taken. If I only had been able to control my temper.

We had all come to the same conclusion that somehow those elves had used a spell to make Trent and I angry with each other. It was the first time I had experienced something like that and wasn't aware it was possible. Ceri confirmed that demons had a spell to cause strife between two people. Swell.

Ivy was having a hard time being in the room with any of us, Quen especially. He was so worked up, his emotions were pushing Ivy to the edge. She was spending a lot of time in the living room just watching the girls play. I would much rather have her there than having to fight her off of Quen in here.

"Ms. Morgan, I can take you to the ever-after." Bis said from his spot on top the refrigerator.

"No thank you Bis." I smiled at him. "After the last time I think we should wait until we are both one hundred percent sure we can properly jump the lines."

"Yeah. I think you're right." He seemed a little down but I knew he was just trying to help.

"Rachel, I'm sorry. Everything I am trying isn't working. My spells just aren't reaching him. Quen might be able to but he is not in the right state of mind to do this properly." Ceri explained.

Quen continued to sit at the large table in the kitchen and stare at the wall. I'm not sure he had heard anything Ceri said. Jenks was on his shoulder and was whispering too quietly for me to know what was being said. I just hoped Jenks could keep him calm enough until I could figure out what to do. Something Jenks said must have finally broke through to Quen because he turned to face me.

"You can do it." Quen said in a gravely tone.

"Me?" I questioned. How could I find Trent when Ceri couldn't even find him? I knew I would have to try. He did the same for me when I was held by Hapa.

"You have a bond with him Rachel that no one else has. His mother created that bond that can only be broken when the purpose of the bond had been achieved." Quen stood and moved towards the center island where Ceri was stirring another spell.

"I don't know how to use it. I don't even know what it means!" I told Quen but I knew I would do whatever he was suggesting.

"Trenton has already given you the means to do it." Quen smiled. "Did you forget about the rings?"

"Oh my God!" I had totally forgotten about the rings. For hours we had been looking for Trent when all I had to do was use the damn ring.

Ivy must have been closer than I had originally thought and joined the conversation, "Last time it brought Trent to you. What if it brings you to him? You have to be prepared if you're pulled into the ever-after. You don't know what you'll be going up against."

"I was thinking the same thing. Trenton must be in the ever-after and my spells don't have enough pull to reach him there." Ceri said, looking down at the spell book she had borrowed from Trent's library.

I had my splat gun tucked in the small of my back, my black leather pants, and kick ass boots on. Now I just needed a few extra charms and I would be ready to go. Ivy was following my thought pattern and reached into the charm cupboard. She pulled out a handful of charms I had left over that Trent had given me. I usually didn't make offensive charms and those were the closest thing I had.

"Those are Trenton's." Ceri said, watching as I took the handful from Ivy and began tucking them away into my boots.

"Yup. He uh, gave them to me a while ago." I said not meeting Ceri's eyes. If she wasn't suspicious of our relationship before she certainly would be now.

"You are full of surprises." Ceri smiled.

"Oh yeah, I'm just a bundle of fun." I said sarcastically. Jenks snorted.

Now that Ivy felt like she had a say in this rescue she wanted to plan it into the ground. We spent the next thirty minutes going over possible scenarios and what all of us would do if said scenario happened.

"You aren't going alone, Rache. I'm going with you. " Jenks said, not leaving Quen's shoulder.

"I don't know how this ring really works Jenks. I doubt if I'm pulled anywhere that you would be able to hitch a ride." I explained.

He frowned but seemed to understand the problem. Thank God for coffee. I was on my fifth cup and wasn't sure how much more of this planning I could take, then I sneezed. All eyes immediately focused on me.

"It was just a sneeze guys." I said but then I sneezed again and again. "Crap."

I hurried and got the scrying mirror out on the table and connected to it.

_"'Bout time you picked up. I've got a gift for my itchy witchy. I'm gonna drop 'em in your kitchen."_ Al's voice boomed in my head.

"You found Trent?" I said out loud for everyone to hear. I heard Quen sigh in relief.

_"You owe me big for this Rachel."_ Al cut off the connection.

"Incoming." Jenks said right before I felt it. There was a pop and Trent dropped to the floor in the kitchen. He was covered in ever-after dust but had no visible injuries. He coughed and his eyes adjusted to being back in the sunlight. It was like walking out of a cave coming back from the ever-after. I hurried forward to help him off the floor.

"Don't touch me!" He yelled. I stopped and felt a wave of embarrassment. My face reddened at his words and I stepped back.

"Sa'han?" Quen questioned. Ceri had begun to clean up and was all but ignoring Trent. Ivy left the kitchen leaving the four of us alone. She returned a moment later with her keys and purse in hand.

"I've some business to attend to. See you later Rache. Glad you're okay Trent." Ivy turned and left.

"Thank you Ms. Tamwood." Trent muttered. Quen got him positioned into one of the chairs at the table. I felt foolish just standing there when Trent wouldn't even look at me but damn it this is my kitchen! Ceri finished cleaning and had just put the last spell pot away. She put her hand on Quen's arm.

"I'm going to get the girls ready. We will wait in the car." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and I think it was the first time I had ever seen her kiss him. Quen nodded.

"Sa'han." Quen said drawing Trent's unfocused attention to him. "I will be in the car. Talk to Ms. Morgan." He patted me on the shoulder and followed Ceri out. At least Trent wasn't banging my head against a gravestone this time; recalling the last time Trent had come back from the ever-after.

"Trent?" I whispered. I wanted to know why he was so angry with me but I was afraid to ask. I hope Al hadn't done anything to him.

"Rachel, just leave me alone. All you do is cause chaos in my life." Trent's tone was cold. Something flickered behind his green eyes. I sucked in a breath knowing it had only been a matter of time before Trent abandoned me too. I felt the sting of tears coming but I refused to cry in front of him. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"Okay." I said simply hoping that he would leave faster if I didn't talk.

He stood and stopped right in front of me. He smelled almost like sawdust and burnt amber. "It was a mistake to think I could have any kind of working relationship with a demon. It's time your kind dies off."

I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. He was right in a way. He turned on his heel and walked out. I heard the front door slam. The tears started to fall and I was glad to be alone. Jenks fluttered down from the rack above the center island. I wiped my eyes, feeling stupid that he had heard the whole thing.

"Rache, I'm sorry." Jenks whispered.

"Yeah. Me too. Guess he really hadn't changed that much huh?" I sniffled.

* * *

Trent POV

I was sitting in my favorite spot by the waterfall but it was doing little to calm me. I was seething inside and no one seemed to notice.

'_They notice. They're just ignoring you thinking that you and Rachel had a fight.'_

'Is this what Rachel felt like having you in her head?' I sneered.

I'd had the Druchii in my head since Al brought me back from the ever-after. I had no idea how it had gained access to me nor was it giving its secrets away. The twin elves had dumped me into some forest in the ever-after and jumped back out on a line but not before hitting me with a pain charm so unbearable that I passed out.

So far my time spent with the Druchii had given me insight on a few things. I now knew its name was Ava. She was doing a great job of keeping me cut off from the lines ensuring its place in my head. She did an even better job making sure Rachel wouldn't be around to help me. I was upset and so angry with myself over the words exchanged with Rachel. I would never say those things to her. I had seen the tears in her eyes and I wanted to yell at the witch not to believe it.

'_Stupid elf. You should never have any kind of union with a demon no matter the benefits.'_

'I don't have a relationship with Rachel to benefit myself.' I said in my head. How could Rachel stand this? I had to get Ava out of my thoughts.

'_I've told you Trenton, I can not leave until I've severed your relations with Rachel.' _

I sighed, only Ava didn't let me sigh. I despised not having control of my own body. There has to be a way to get this situation under control. I was always in control, well maybe not when it came to Rachel. She had always been that one part of my life that I never knew what to expect.

'_Rachel was strong enough to overpower me. You're not stronger than her. I will be here for a very long time'_ Ava taunted me.

She was right. I wasn't stronger than Rachel and I wasn't ashamed to admit it. The woman has been through hell and back and she still is filled with so much fire and life. I loved that about her. No matter what happens she always keeps going, keeps fighting. I wasn't going to submit to a Druchii.

Working up enough willpower was the only problem. I felt defeated knowing I had hurt Rachel and I wasn't sure if she would even speak to me again. I refused to give up, I had to try. Quen had walked by several times but never looked directly at me. If he would just meet my eyes he would know that I wasn't alone in my body.

It felt like hours had passed just sitting her watching the water. I wondered if Ava missed it? Where ever Ava came from she hasn't seen the outside world in a very long time. I had vaguely heard in her thoughts that she was waiting for someone else. Another Druchii perhaps? I needed Rachel's help. I wasn't sure how to go about getting it. I knew if I could just get Rachel here, no matter how angry she was, she would help me. The problem I was having was getting her here. I should be able to use our rings.

All I needed to do was turn my ring, tap a line, think of Rachel, and say those three words and she would be here. She would know what she needed to do. I had noticed the more I carried on a conversation with Ava the more she let her guard down, giving me control over small things such as my breathing. Ava had assured me that she was working alone but I knew it was a lie. Maybe she wasn't aware that if I tried hard enough I could hear what she was thinking too.

Now if I could just get her talking again maybe I can tap the line I needed.

'What's in it for you? What do you gain out of this?' I asked referring to severing the relationship between Rachel and myself.

'_I was promised a way out.' _

'Ava, where is your body?' I asked.

'_I can't have it back until I'm finished with Rachel.'_

'What if I could help you?' I wasn't sure I could even if I wanted to but I asked anyways.

'_There is only the one who can help me.'_

'Who is that Ava?' I had to keep the questions flowing feeling her hold on me loosen little by little.

'_The one who can end it all.'_

'Who is it?' Just a little bit more. I could feel the line but wasn't ready yet to tap it.

_'I can not tell you.' _

That was what I needed. I reached down to my hand and turned the ring on my finger. I was always thinking of Rachel. I reached out and tapped the line.

'_No!'_ Ava was screaming in my thoughts but it was too late. She couldn't stop me, my hold on the line was too great.

"_Ta na shay_!" I shouted finally having my own words come out of my mouth. A few moments had passed and nothing happened. I heard Ava laughing in my head. I held the line and kept her from taking control back by flooding it into her thoughts every time she tried. I could take the pain if it meant I kept control of my body.

"You will not control me. I will fry my little kitty brain before I let that happen again." I said to an empty room. I chuckled realizing I sounded like Rachel.

I turned when I felt someone pop into the room.

"Rachel." I sighed thinking I had never been happier to see her. On the other hand, maybe not. She looked pissed. Her fiery red hair was falling out of a french braid framing her face beautifully. I slowly ran my eyes up her body to her face. She had on her working leathers, red halter top, and her usual boots. She looked good. I couldn't deny it. She was holding some dandelions which would normally seem odd but she had probably been in the middle of spelling when I pulled her to me.

"What the hell Trent! You yell at me telling me my kind is better off dead then call me over here? Send me back right now and call me up on the phone. I do not come at your every beck and call!" Rachel yelled, crossing her arms.

"Ava's in my head. Please, help me get her out. I'm holding more line energy than I ever had before just to stay in control." I groaned, my head in agony trying to form thoughts around all the energy and Ava's attempts at taking my body back.

"Ava?" Rachel questioned, not moving from where she was standing. "I don't need to know about your personal life Trent. Keep the information about your girlfriends to yourself."

I could see the hurt behind her green eyes. I wanted to reach out and caress her cheek but I needed to be myself first.

"Rachel, look into my eyes." Taking an eternity to get out those five little words. She has to know that wasn't me that said those horrible things. Rachel leaned across my chair and looked into my eyes.

"Oh shit!" She exclaimed raising a circle as fast as the words came out of her mouth.

I leaned back and let go of the line. Rachel was here. She was going to help me. My vision was going black around the edges and I knew I was going to loose consciousness if we didn't get Ava out of my head.

'_Damn you Trenton!'_ Ava was shouting but I didn't care. She had taken control of my body back and that didn't bother me either, Rachel was going to help me.

'You could have asked for a meeting and we could have been civilized about this but now you're not going to live very much longer.' I threatened Ava.

_'She will kill you before you find me_.' Ava snarled.

'Thank you Ava. That was all the information I needed.' I wanted to smile but I knew the look on my face was one of anger as I felt the slight pushing of Rachel's words in my thoughts.

'_Please, she'll put me back in a bottle and I will never again see the light of day!'_ Ava begged.

I heard Rachel's song sweep through my mind and all the tension left my body. Ava struggled to fight it but Rachel had circled her in my thoughts and she wasn't going to escape this time. I had never thought of doing that and I wondered if the spell is going to work differently having Ava in a circle.

Rachel flooded me with energy and finished with her hand gesture to remove Ava from my mind but something else happened. Ava didn't leave. She stayed in the circle Rachel had made inside my head and she screamed. Pain exploded into my head and I felt it pass into Rachel's thoughts. The screaming ended when a bright light exploded from my mind taking down Rachel's circle. The chair I was sitting in flipped backwards with Rachel landing on top of me. I let out a yell as I felt Ava leave my mind only she wasn't snapped back to the ever-after. I knew what had happened but I wasn't so sure Rachel was grasping it as she slowly removed her presence from my head.

We both sat up and I eyed Rachel. She had a blank look on her face with her eyes slightly unfocused.

"I killed her didn't I?" She whispered.

"Yes." I reached out and wrapped my arms around Rachel, surprised when she leaned into my embrace. That was when the tears began.

"Trent-I, I didn't mean- I didn't know. I just-" Rachel couldn't form any real words but I knew what she was trying to say.

"It's going to be okay. You didn't mean to Rachel. I'm here. It's okay. I'm here." I rubbed her back as she sobbed into my shirt.

Quen had come into the room at the sound of my chair falling and I didn't see the need to alert Rachel to his presence. I nodded to him and he frowned. Rachel was still mumbling about not meaning to kill her and I wasn't sure what else to do to calm her. Making a quick decision to do something other than sit on the floor I picked Rachel up into my arms like she was a child. She dropped her head against my chest, the tears never slowing.

"Sa'han? She killed the Druchii?" Quen whispered so softly Rachel would not have heard him.

"Yes, I don't know how. She circled her in my head and she didn't make it out before Rachel finished the charm." I spoke softly enough so Rachel wouldn't hear.

"She?" Quen's face became angry realizing I hadn't been myself when I came back from the ever-after. Ceri came in and went straight to Rachel having overheard our conversation.

"Ssshhhh. I'll make you some tea. Trenton is going to put you to bed." Ceri soothed her, brushing strands of hair out of her face.

I followed Ceri's orders and headed for the stairs. I stopped in front of the door to the room Rachel used when she was here. I might as well just call it Rachel's room seeing as she is the only one that uses it now that Ellsabeth is gone. I nudged it with my foot and went inside. I laid Rachel down in the huge four poster bed. I gently pulled the blankets up around her. She opened her eyes and they were the brightest green I had ever seen them.

"Please, don't leave me alone." She begged.

I starred at her for a split second and made a decision. I crawled into the bed with her. I laid on my back and Rachel moved to snuggle up against me. Her body was so warm and I wanted her to fully wrap herself around me. She settled her head on my chest with one arm draped across my waist and one leg across both of mine. I couldn't complain.

"Don't leave me Trent. I can't go through that again." She seemed to be drifting to sleep.

"I won't Rachel. I promise. I'm here for you. Forever and always." I whispered.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I stretched my body across the marshmallows again. I was starting to get use to this, pretty soon I wouldn't like my own bed anymore. I smiled just as my hand hit something soft. I turned thinking it was a pillow but it was Trent. What exactly was Trent doing in bed with me? I looked down hoping that I still had all of my clothes on, which I did. Pleased I had dodged that bullet, I lifted the covers to make sure he had his clothes on and he did. I sighed. He began to stir.

"Mmmm Rachel?" He said sleepily opening one eye. I laughed. I remembered Trent waking up on our road trip but it wasn't anything like this. Apparently sleeping in a car with a witch, a vampire, and a pixy makes you quite grumpy.

"Um not that I'm complaining Trent, but why are you in bed with me?" I was still laughing as he attempted to get both eyes open.

"You asked me not to leave you." He said simply and wrapped an arm around me. It felt really nice and I was not about to ask him to move it. I had asked him that hadn't I? I snuggled into him breathing in the scent of summer and wine. He smelled delicious when he woke up. Then the events of last night hit me. I had killed someone.

"Trent? I killed her didn't I?" I asked in a whisper trying not to cry.

"You didn't know that was going to happen. None of us did. It was an accident Rachel. You were protecting me." He said quietly.

"Still makes me a murderer." I sniffled letting the tears fall.

"Don't. Rachel just don't assign that title to yourself. You are not a murderer." Trent spoke with such authority I didn't want to argue. All I could do was let the tears fall on his chest as we lay there in silence. Once all the tears had been cried and I had nothing left I found I didn't want to talk about it. I wanted to get even. There was someone pulling the strings of the Druchii and probably more where the first one came from. Trent could sense the change in me as I gently pulled away from him.

"Tell me what you know." I said sitting up and making sure all the tears were gone from my face. Trent's eyes held a mixture of understanding and pain that I now knew came from the death of another person. He sat up leaning against the headboard never breaking eye contact.

"Her name was Ava. She has a body. I think a woman has it. I assume there are more Druchii at her disposal. Whoever she is she's prepared to go to whatever means necessary in severing any ties I have to you." Trent explained.

"Swell. I love when a stranger with evil elves at her disposal has taken a personal interest in your life." I dropped my head into my hands.

"Do you have any idea who it could be?" Trent asked.

I nodded. "There are about twenty people it could be but for this situation, I can't think of anyone. The only female I know that has taken some kind of an interest in my life is Ivy and Newt. Shit! Maybe it's Newt."

"Newt? Isn't she a demon? " Trent's expression actually showed his fear. He was right to fear her. No one was more powerful than Newt except maybe myself but she could still squash me like a bug.

"She's the one you elves missed in your quest to kill all the female demons." I sighed. "I need Al's help. The Druchii are nothing compared to having Newt come after us. Do me a favor and don't tell Ceri okay?"

"Rachel?" He gave a questioning look.

"Believe me. If you tell her she won't come out of the vault until she knows that Newt has had a forget spell put on her again." I hopped down to the floor and stretched my body. I hoped it would be that easy but I had a funny feeling that Newt may have already set something into motion that couldn't be stopped.

* * *

I walked into the church at the ungodly hour of eight in the morning. I heard the pixies going full steam and I didn't understand how Ivy could sleep through all the noise. As I made my way to the kitchen the smell of coffee hit me and I knew Ivy wasn't sleeping. Troll turds. She was a peach in the morning. I walked into the kitchen and Ivy was in front of the coffee pot extending a fresh cup to me.

"Thanks." I mumbled taking the cup and sitting in my chair.

"Ceri called." Ivy said into her cup. She was peeking at me over the top but I could tell she was scenting my mood.

"Does Jenks know too?" I whispered letting the bitter liquid hit my tongue.

"Of course I know." Jenks zipped into the kitchen landing on the table in front of me. "We don't think any less of you for it. Now suck it up and call Al. You have bigger problems to deal with Rache."

He was right. I didn't know what Newt would be sending next and I did not want her coming to finish the job herself. Something about the whole situation was off. I wondered if it really was Newt. Sure she was more than capable of all of it but I just couldn't put my finger on a detail that I knew I was missing.

"Ivy? Can you help me chart all of the events of the Druchii? Any details we can think of?" I asked finishing off my cup of coffee.

Ivy perked up and flew into motion. "I thought I would never hear those words come out of your mouth." She said jokingly. Ivy had the computer on tapping away and setting up a spread sheet to track the events of the Druchii. It took the three of us the next hour to get everything charted but we began to see a pattern. All of the events directly focused on Trent and myself. There was no bigger picture, no hidden agenda, just Trent and I.

"It's not Newt." I said firmly believing it.

"She's insane Rachel. How can you be so sure?" Ivy argued.

"I just know. It's not her. This is someone else." I could feel it. I had been really good about trusting my instincts and I was going to do it right now even if I had to tie Ivy down to a chair to get her to listen. "Ivy please just believe me. I just know."

Jenks and Ivy were silent as they exchanged looks with one another.

"Rache hasn't been wrong yet when it came to demons." Jenks admitted.

"Why don't you just ask her then?" Ivy got up to refill our cups.

"I've never called her directly. She kind of scares the crap out of me." I admitted.

"Why don't you just call Al and have him talk to her?" Jenks asked.

I retrieved my calling glyph and sat back at the table. I was going to try to call Newt. I hope I was right. I would have told Ivy and Jenks to leave the church but it was still before ten in the morning so Newt couldn't just pop over if she decided she was angry with me. I exhaled and stretched my upper body trying to relieve the tension that was building.

"Calling an insane demon." I said as I positioned my fingers. "Newt? Hello, Newt? It's Rachel. I just had some questions if you aren't busy?" Ivy and Jenks both had the same look of concern on their faces as we all waited in silence to see if I would get a response. Five minutes had passed and I didn't feel anything.

"I guess she didn't want to pick up." I shrugged removing my fingers. I took the cup Ivy had extended to me and just as I filled my mouth with coffee I sneezed.

"Bloody hell Rache!" Jenks exclaimed and took to the ceiling with just his feet dripping of coffee. Ivy was snickering as she brought a towel over.

"Jenks I'm sorry!" Then I sneezed again and again. Someone was calling me. I pressed my fingers back into the mirror to be greeted by Newt.

_'Rachel love, what can I do for you?'_ Newt asked sweetly. I almost preferred the insane, out of control Newt to this one. This was definitely more scary.

"Uh, well Newt I seem to be having a problem with a Druchii." I started.

_'No! Rachel you must stop them! Kill them all!'_ Newt was frantic. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to call her personally.

"I did. I killed one last night." I hesitated but figured honesty was best with her.

_'Find them and kill them. I can not control a Druchii. Only an elf can. What has your elf been up to my dear?'_ Newt was calm again which freaked me out even more.

"It's not him. I know it's not. How do I stop them?" I knew I probably shouldn't be asking Newt for help but why not? She was being civil enough and maybe I could learn something that Al didn't want me to know.

'_Kill them. That's how you stop them.'_ Newt said and cut the connection off. I had a funny feeling I had just made a big mistake talking to Newt. I met Ivy's eyes and she knew it too.

"What did she say?" Jenks was wiping his feet on the towel on the table in front of me.

"Sorry about the coffee Jenks." I gave him an apologetic look. "She said kill them. I did get something useful though."

"What?" Ivy was trying to not look as interested as I knew she really was.

"That only an elf can control a Druchii." I smiled. I didn't know how this was going to help us but it would narrow the list of suspects that's for sure.

Ivy frowned. "But you only know so many elves Rachel. It has to be one of them."

"You think it's cookie farts?" Jenks looked serious.

"No." I didn't even hesitate to answer. I knew it wasn't Trent. It wasn't Ceri or Quen either. Jonathan was a dog so it couldn't be him. Did I know any other elves? I dropped my coffee cup as the thought hit me.

"Damn it Rache! Stop spilling coffee on me!" Jenks swore and flew up before it could soak anything other than his feet.

"Shut up Jenks! She knows who it is!" Ivy moved to clean up the coffee as I sat in silence.

"Ellasbeth."

* * *

It was three in the afternoon. I had been through every single one of my demon texts twice and they spoke nothing of the Druchii or how to control one or how to stop someone from controlling one. I knew that what I needed wasn't going to be found in one of my books but I was too much of a chicken to call Trent just yet. How do you tell someone their ex fiance was out to ruin what might be their next relationship and was the mother of their child to boot? Yeah that was a conversation I was not ready to have. Jenks and Ivy were taking turns checking on me about every five minutes and it was starting to piss me off. I was in the kitchen. I wasn't out on a run or unsupervised at the grocery store. Trent would be getting up from his afternoon nap soon and I needed to call him.

I put away all of my spell books and tried to think of how to tell him what I knew. I had no proof. I was going off the word of an insane demon and my instincts. I just hoped it would be enough for Trent to hear me out. He's listened to me with less before. This was a talk I needed to have in person. I grabbed my bag and headed for the sanctuary. I don't really know why I thought I would have gotten out of the church. Ivy and Jenks were waiting for me at the front door.

"Where ya going Rache?" Jenks snickered. Stupid annoying pixy.

"Fine. You guys want to come to Trent's with me?" I jingled my car keys trying to get this show on the road.

"Is your boyfriend awake from his afternoon nappies yet?" Jenks laughed. Ivy even had a smile.

"I guess we'll find out." I said, pushing them out of the way and heading out the door. I was surprised when they both followed me to the mini. I thought for sure Ivy would have stayed home. I had a feeling tempers were going to be running high and I hoped Ivy was up for dealing with it.

"Ivy I'm going to talk to Trent alone." I said shutting the door and starting the car.

She nodded but didn't say anything. I knew she wouldn't be far from where ever we went to talk. Maybe she could fill in Ceri and Quen while Trent and I talked. The ride was silent but for Jenks singing along with the Beach Boys on the radio. I was worried about talking to Trent. I hoped that the information I was going to give him didn't change anything between us. I had feelings for Trent. Now if I could admit it out loud we would make some progress.

I kept thinking of the memory Trent had shared with me from camp. I wanted to ask him for more memories but I was scared of what I might see. I was so deep in my thoughts that I hadn't even heard Ivy until she grabbed the steering wheel and made me pull off to the side of the road.

"What the hell Ivy?" I said as I put the car in neutral and pulled the emergency break.

"Rachel, we need to talk about what is going to happen with Trent." Ivy said smoothly taking the keys from me to make sure we didn't leave until she was satisfied.

"Oh good lord Ivy I'm not talking about my feelings!" I exclaimed.

"That's not what I was talking about." Ivy smirked. "I am curious about those but I meant what is going to happen when you burst in there to tell him Ellasbeth is trying to keep you two apart. What is he going to do to her? Will that change the relationship you have with him now?"

"Oh." I hadn't really thought about what Trent would do to Ellasbeth. I was pretty sure he wouldn't kill her but he was capable of anything. "He's not going to kill her Ivy."

"Do you know that for sure Rachel?" She wouldn't make eye contact with me and I wondered if my emotions were pushing her buttons.

"Yes, I know that for sure. She is the mother of his daughter. He won't kill her. I don't know what he will do to her but I know her death will not be an option." I stated. I sure hoped I was right. I wasn't going to doubt myself. I knew Trent very well now and I knew in my heart he wouldn't kill her.

"Rache is right Ivy. Trent isn't going to kill her. He might rough her up a bit but he's trying to be on his best behavior to impress Rachel." Jenks snickered from the rear view mirror.

"Shut it Jenks." I mumbled feeling my face turn red. Why was I getting embarrassed about Trent trying to impress me? I knew he was doing it but I didn't think he was doing it for the reasons Jenks was thinking of.

"I just want you to be prepared that things could change Rachel. I know you and Trent have become good friends recently and I don't want to see you get hurt." Ivy whispered. "I don't want to have to kill Trent." Jenks nodded in agreement. Great. Now if Trent hurts my feelings my friends are going to kill him?

"Neither one of you are going to kill Trent no matter what happens. I need him alive. Understand?" I exhaled feeling a little better about all of us being on the same page.

Ivy smiled. "So lets talk about those feelings?"

"Hell no." I reached over and took the keys out of Ivy's lap.

"I think she loooooves him." Jenks said trying to keep a straight face.

"I would have to agree with you there." Ivy said with a straight face also.

"Why? Why are you guys doing this to me?" I whined. I started the car and got back on the road to Trent's compound.

"He's not going to wait forever. You need to talk to him before you lose him. I think that elf would do damn near anything for you Rachel." Ivy said being completely serious.

"He would. I've seen some of the things he's already done Rachel. Believe me he has some very strong feelings for you." Jenks dusted blue from the mirror. I don't remember the last time he dusted blue.

"I know. I can't keep ignoring my feelings." I was quiet after finally admitting it. We drove in silence until we were at Trent's gatehouse. Seeing as I wasn't expected the gate was closed. I pulled up and rolled down the window to speak with the guard. He was a younger man dressed in a security uniform with a pleasant smile on his face.

"Ms. Morgan?" He questioned.

"Yeah. Surprise! Trent didn't know I was coming." I said as he took in my passengers.

He opened the gate and asked "Would you like me to let Mr. Kalamack know you are on the way up?"

"No!" I said quickly. "It's a surprise if you would just keep it to yourself." I smiled hoping the man would.

"Yes Ms. Morgan." He nodded and I continued through the gate.

"Wow. You can come and go when you please without an announcement of you coming?" Ivy had a puzzled look on her face.

"I guess so. This is the first time I've come without him knowing first." I shrugged. Trent would have to have a lot of trust in me to be able to freely enter his compound without his knowledge. It was kind of flattering when I thought about it. He wasn't a man that gave his trust easily and I had earned it. We pulled into the visitors lot and parked in the spot that Trent always had me use. Maybe I could get my name on one of those parking signs? Why would I need my own spot? I think I just wanted one. I wanted some claim to Trent if I was going to be honest.

"Lets go see if Trent is awake." I said, grabbing my bag and getting out of the car.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I didn't think it was a good idea for us to just stroll right into Trent's private rooms so we stopped at the front desk where Sara Jane was sitting. She sneered when she first saw me but quickly replaced the look with a plastic smile.

"Ms. Morgan. Can I help you?" Sara Jane said sweetly.

"Is Trent in his office?" I asked as I walked past her desk and headed for his office door.

"Wait! He's in a meeting Ms. Morgan. You can't just walk in." Sara Jane stood but seeing the look on Ivy's face and her aggressive stance blocking her way she sat back down. Smart woman.

"Watch me." I said as I opened his office door. Trent was sitting at his desk looking at the computer screen with Quen by his side. This is what she called a meeting? Their eyes darted to the door and Trent stood in surprise.

"Rachel. This is a surprise." He said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah we need to talk Trent. Hey Quen. Ivy and Jenks are out there. They would love to see Ceri and the girls." I prompted. Without needing another hint, Trent nodded his head and Quen left the office.

"Is everything okay?" Trent looked completely calm but I could see it in his eyes he was concerned something else had happened. I plopped down in the chair in front of his desk with my legs hanging over the side. Trent pursed his lips and sat back down. _Yeah I would never sit like a lady so get use to it Trent_.

"It's not Newt." I said shortly, waiting to watch his reaction. He rose both eyebrows. He doesn't know it's Ellasbeth.

"What did you do Rachel?" Trent questioned how I had gotten the information.

"I called her. I figured better to get it straight from the horses mouth." I picked at my nails not wanting to make eye contact with him. I didn't need to explain to him that Newt's answer to all the problems was to just kill all of them. I wouldn't even think about what life would be like without Trent.

"Tell me who it is." Trent sighed. I could tell he wanted the name but was going to be patient with me.

"I want something first." I said hesitantly.

"Money?" Trent went to reach into his desk and pulled out a checkbook.

"To the turn with you Trent! I don't want your damn money!" I exclaimed sitting up. I could definitely use some right now but I wasn't going to ask him for it. I could earn my own paycheck.

"Then what is it you want from me Rachel?" Trent's frustration came through in his words.

"Nothing Trent, just forget it." I stood and headed towards the door. Trent was on me before I knew it. I hadn't even seen him move or heard him for that matter. He stopped in front of me and put both hands on my arms.

"I apologize. Please come and sit. Talk to me Rachel." I finally looked into those green eyes and I knew he meant it. "I'm just well.." He ran his hand through his hair. He was nervous. "I'm confused." He finished.

"Confused about what?" I wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"Us!" He raised both hands in frustration. "I want you Rachel." He had finally confessed it outloud.

"You do?" I was sure I felt the same way but hearing it from him first was a nice confidence boost. I felt my heart beat increase and I prayed that he couldn't hear that well.

"Yes! I know you are smarter than that Rachel. You've known and you avoid the subject. I have feelings for you and they won't go away!" Trent was pacing back and forth in front of his fish tank.

"I have feelings for you too." I said quietly knowing he would hear it.

"Then do something about it damn it! I've been waiting a long time for you." Trent's green eyes burned into mine. I didn't know what I wanted to do though. I was so attracted to that man but I didn't just want it to be about sex. Trent had finally stopped moving and took a seat on the corner of his desk. I needed to make a decision. If I rejected him now I knew we wouldn't be able to come back from that. If I did something about my feelings it would also change everything. I didn't know which way to go but I couldn't just leave him hanging like this. He had been waiting for a long time. I knew he had even when I was scared to admit it. _Make a decision Rachel!_

I moved forward until I was a foot away from Trent. He looked so sexy sitting like that on his desk. I believe I had told him that before. He was wearing a black silk shirt and his dark green tie was loose. His jacket was on the back of the chair and his black slacks didn't leave much to the imagination. I had always thought he had a nice backside. I slowly moved closer to Trent almost shaking from what was about to change. Once I was within arms length Trent grabbed me, spinning me around to put my back flat on the desk. I hadn't even seen him clear all the papers off but I heard them fall to the floor.

Trent very gently ran his lips across my neck and I let out a small moan. It had been so long since I had been touched. He kissed up my neck to my jaw and then my lips. His lips were soft and gentle against mine but I could feel something building. I felt tingles running through my whole body and I didn't want it to stop. I slowly spread my lips and he slipped his tongue in. It was my undoing. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pushed my fingers into his hair. I was having trouble breathing and had to separate myself from his mouth.

"Trent.." I breathed.

"Mmmm." He said against my neck as he moved his lips up and down my neck and jaw. I knew I needed to tell him about Ellasbeth. I didn't come here for this but this was really hard to stop. I sucked in a few deep breaths that helped clear my head some.

"I still want something before I tell you." I whispered.

"We could have sex on my desk if you want." Trent said nipping at my ear. The tingles were getting hard to ignore again as Trent continued to kiss the parts of my body that were within mouths reach.

"I didn't come here for sex." I played with Trent's hair.

"No? Well it's yours if you want it Rachel." Trent whispered into my ear increasing the tingles. I swear if we didn't stop soon Trent was going to have to do me on his desk.

"I want a memory Trent." I finally managed to get out. He stopped and pulled back a little to look at my face.

"A memory? Of what?" He was cautious being unsure of what I was asking for.

"Something of us. When we were kids." I said running my finger along his jaw that didn't have a hint of stubble. I wonder how many times a day he shaved to never get a five o'clock shadow?

"I can do that." He said with a smile. He pulled me up into a sitting position beside him on the desk. "Does it have to be with both of us in it or can I share one I have of you?"

I smiled. "I'll take whatever I can get."

"Good." He lifted my hand and kissed it. "I have one in mind." Keeping my hands in his he positioned me against his side. I noticed I fit there quite nicely, like two pieces of a puzzle.

I felt him tap the line. "___Ego mos vos ut memor."_

_I felt the charm wash over me but it was different this time. We hadn't left the room. We were in Trent's office only it wasn't his office it was his father's. He was sitting on his father's desk just like we were now. He looked to be about ten years old. It was before the time that I had met him at camp for the first time. His father was no where to be seen but his mother was sitting behind the desk. _

_ "Mother?" Trent questioned._

_ "Yes baby?" She looked up from the papers she had in her hand. _

_ "Will I have to marry the one that father says I will? I don't like her. She's mean." Trent fidgeted with his hands as he spoke to her. _

_ She smiled. "Trenton I know your father has plans for you but you will make your own choices __no matter what has been decided for you." _

_ "I will have my own choice?" He looked hopeful._

_ "Would you like to hear about who I think you are going to marry?" She asked setting the papers down. He nodded his head enthusiastically. "I think you are going to marry someone who is not an elf." His eyes got huge at her words but she continued. "She will be full of spirit and fire. She will keep you on your toes and she won't take any of your crap." She laughed at the look Trent gave her. "She will be beautiful. She will have pale skin, green eyes, and red hair." _

_ "Red hair!" Trent gasped. _

_ His mother laughed. "Definitely have red hair. At first you will be scared of her. You have always been scared of the unknown and she will be something you have never seen before. She will be one of a kind Trenton. You will have to prove yourself to her because she will not trust you easily."_

_ "Is she real mother? Are you just making her up?" Trent asked with a look of amusement in his eyes._

_ "She is very real. You may even meet her at camp. You must always keep your eyes open Trenton. You never know when it will happen. She will be everything you've ever wanted but it will take you years to figure that part out." She stood and patted Trent on the back. "Now go back to your studies before your father catches you in here." _

I opened my eyes and we were back in Trent's office. "When did you figure out she was talking about me?" I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"When I put your soul in a bottle." He said looking down at his feet. "That's about the same time I figured out that you're the one I wanted by my side."

"Oh." I didn't really know what to say. I know that what his mother had said didn't make a difference about his feelings for me. It was weird how his mother was so sure he would end up with me. Maybe that is why she bound our fates. She knew that they would be intertwined no matter what choices we both made.

"Maybe I shouldn't have shared that with you." Trent said and started picking up his papers off the floor. Great. Another wonderful Rachel moment. Insert foot into mouth now.

"No. I'm glad you did. I like you being able to share something like that with me." I helped him with his papers. "I'm glad you trust me enough to be so open Trent."

Trent let out his breath in relief. "Now, who is it Rachel?"

"Sit down, please." I said and went back to my chair in front of his desk. He opted for the one next to me rather than behind his desk. It made me feel much more comfortable that he was putting himself as an equal rather than someone needing to be in control.

"Come on Rache just spit it out." Trent joked.

I met his eyes. "It's Ellasbeth."

Trent just stared at me. I wasn't sure if he had heard me. He was completely silent and wasn't moving. If he was thinking I didn't want to interrupt but I didn't want to keep sitting here without some kind of response from him. Just as I opened my mouth to say something he blinked. Okay blinking was a good sign, I think. I shut my mouth waiting for him to catch up.

"Bitch!" Trent swore. My mouth dropped. I had never heard him swear like that before. Not that it wasn't true I was just surprised that his usual proper etiquette just went out the window. "What is she thinking! What the hell could this possibly solve?" Trent was up and pacing the length of his office again.

"Do you want my honest opinion?" I asked not moving from my chair but turning to see him better.

"No." He answered shortly. I snorted. "Wait, yes. No. Rachel I don't know if I want to hear what you could say because I'm afraid it's true." Trent stopped to read my face. "Yes, tell me." He decided.

"She's doing it to keep us apart Trent. Ever since she thought I was your whore she knew there was something more between us." I answered. He was silent for another moment never breaking eye contact with me.

"You're right. It's all about us. It always has been with her." Trent sulked back to the chair beside me.

"Really?" I was surprised.

"She was intimidated by you Rachel. She always believed you were more to me that what you were." Trent explained.

"Lets end it." I said and moved to sit on his desk so I could face him.

"Lets end it?" Trent repeated. "I can't just off her Rachel. She's Lucy's mother."

I rolled my eyes. "I wasn't saying we should kill her. Give me a little more credit. Just because I had one incident does not mean I've lost my morals." I didn't have that cold of a heart and she was a person no matter how bad I'd love to smack her a good one.

"What do you have in mind?" Trent seemed to be lost in thought. I guess I had just dropped a pretty big bomb on him on top of us being honest about our feelings.

"Lets take away her magic." I stated.

"You can do that?" He asked becoming interested in whatever I would say next.

"Well no. I thought maybe you could." I shrugged.

"I'm not aware of a spell that could do such a thing. Would your demon know of one?" He was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"It's worth a shot. I can talk to Al. If they don't have one I'll make one." I was becoming hopeful that this could have a happy ending.

"You're going to make a spell? You know that only happens every few hundred years or so and usually by accident?" Trent wasn't looking at things with the glass half full.

"Do you doubt my abilities Trent?" I didn't want to get irritated with him but if he was going to rain on my parade I was going home.

"Not in the slightest." He said, standing to wedge himself in between my legs dangling off the desk. I wrapped my arms around his neck once he was close enough and breathed in his scent. If sunshine could have a scent this was it. I licked my lips in anticipation for the kiss I knew that was coming. He met my lips just as gently as he had the last time. Tingles ran through my body and I realized that Trent was causing them. We must have really been into that kiss since I didn't hear the knock on the door but I did hear the clearing of someone's throat.

We broke apart and turned to see both Quen and Ivy just inside the door with the same duplicate smile on their faces. Swell. I was never going to hear the end of this.

"Sa'han I am hoping that Rachel filled you in on her epiphany before you eh-." Quen started.

Trent frowned. "Yes she has. I believe Rachel has some serious spelling to do." He broke away from my embrace and I pouted.

I jumped up from the desk. "Off to go magically castrate the wicked bitch of the northwest." I got a chuckle from Trent and Quen with that one. I gave Trent a kiss on the cheek. "I'll call you later to let you know what I find out."

"Sounds good. Thank you Rachel. Really." Trent gave me a serious look and I smiled.

"I got this. Okay?" I grabbed my bag and Ivy and I headed out the door. "Jenks!" I yelled. I wasn't sure where he was hiding but it couldn't be far. I would have to talk to Trent about getting more of that sticky silk taken down if I was going to be around here more often. I heard the hum of pixy wings and knew Jenks was on the way.

"You have a plan?" Ivy asked in disbelief as she matched me step for step towards the front exit.

I grinned at her. "I have a plan."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Two days had gone by and I hadn't talked to Trent. I wasn't sure if it was because I was trying to make a spell or because our relationship may have moved to the next level. I was avoiding him if I was going to be honest with myself. At least he wasn't calling to find out what was going on. I had three hours before it was time to go meet Al and I figured once I was there I could learn how to make my own spell or hopefully find one of his I could use. I didn't call Al after my talk with Trent thinking that asking him in person would be best. I guess I would find out shortly.

I was in a sour mood having no luck at all finding out how a spell was made on my own. I didn't think finding information on how to make a spell would be non existent. I ate a spoonful of my tomato soup. This was going to be harder than I thought. I had just finished the last of my soup when I felt a tug on the line. That was weird. It wasn't someone using it, but it was more like someone standing in it. It was too early for it to be Al and I didn't know anyone else in the neighborhood brave enough to stand in a demon's cemetery even if there was a line running through it. I felt it again but this time I heard the whisper, sounding just like I had in Trent's office when Lee popped in.

"Not in my church you don't!" I exclaimed jumping up and running out the back door.

"Rache?" Ivy called from the sanctuary but didn't follow me out. Jenks was already outside and heard the door slam open and landed on my shoulder. Bis came out of nowhere and was on the other shoulder.

"What's wrong with the line Ms. Rachel?" Bis asked.

I stopped walking. "You can feel it too Bis?"

"Yes. I don't see anyone in it but it doesn't feel right." Bis was worried. We hadn't had the best experience with the lines together. I cleared my mind and opened my second sight.

"Rache I don't like this." Jenks said quietly.

"Then go inside with Ivy." I snapped at him. I was trying to concentrate and couldn't hold a conversation. Bis was right, there wasn't anyone in the line but I could still hear the same muffled whispering. "I think someone is coming. It's just like it was in Trent's office when Lee jumped in."

I didn't have a clue who was coming but I knew it was going to happen. "Bis are you ready?"

"Ms. Rachel I feel funny. I think someone is talking to me-" Bis didn't even finish his sentence before he fell off my shoulder.

"Bis!" I yelled and Ivy was in the back in seconds.

"What happened?" She questioned.

"I don't know. We felt the line change. It was weird Ivy. Then he got all stiff and fell over." I panicked. I tried to shake Bis but he was hard as stone. His eyes were closed and it was almost as if he had fallen asleep. Ivy and I argued for a minute before deciding to bring Bis inside. He was heavy as a boulder but with Ivy's help we managed to get him through the back door.

"I'm calling Al." I rushed to get my mirror when I heard Bis' wings.

"No. Ms. Rachel I'm fine. I think I heard a Druchii communicating through the line." He said as he landed on my shoulder with Ivy and Jenks right behind him.

"What?" I was horrified. Poor Bis. It shouldn't have knocked him out. Maybe it had something to do with the lines. Bis was connected to them all so the Druchii couldn't possess him.

"It was talking about you." Bis said in a gravely tone. I swallowed. This was going to be interesting. "It was upset about the death of Ava. It said you were responsible and they would be seeking revenge." Bis took a dramatic pause and gave a huge smile showing all of his blocky teeth. "It was talking to Ellasbeth. She told it to do whatever it takes to keep you and Trenton apart."

"Swell." I muttered.

Bis was still smiling. "There's more. He didn't know that I could read his thoughts with how he was using the line to communicate."

I smiled back. "What did you find out?"

"Ellasbeth doesn't want you and Trenton together. She's acting against her family's wishes and they are ready to end this as much as you and Trent." He flew to his perch atop the refrigerator. This was good news. Maybe her family would deal with her so that Trent and I wouldn't have to. It was a long shot but I hoped they would. Ivy had a look of irritation on her face.

"What?" I asked her.

"Why do you believe any of that is true?" Ivy filled the coffee carafe with water to make a fresh pot. Bis took in a big gulp of air. "That's not what I mean Bis. I believe you. But how does Rachel know that the message wasn't passed through her line on purpose on hopes of her overhearing it?"

"Rachel isn't going to stay away from Trent. He's her boyfriend now." Jenks stood on the center island doing his peter pan pose.

"Whoa whoa whoa. He's not my boyfriend. We just kissed a little." My face reddened.

"We all know Trent's your boyfriend so just deal with it." Ivy snapped as she measured out three scoops of coffee and started the pot. Jenks laughed but kept his comments to himself which was a huge accomplishment by my standards.

* * *

"Al come on! I will spend an extra twenty-four hours with you a week for the next month! Just help me try to make this spell." I pleaded with him.

"How do I know you won't turn around and use it on me to take away my magic Rachel? Absolutely not." Al grumbled as he was looking through one of his books in the library about the Druchii. He had been holding out on me but I had kind of expected it.

"Then help me come up with a way to stop her!" I demanded. "We can't end the war if she's trying to keep Trent and I apart."

"So?" Al snapped and kept reading. "What do I care if some deranged bitch is trying to break you and your boyfriend up?"

"Aaaaahhhhhh! Al! Listen to me. I need to be able to have contact with Trent to fix the demons. I can't do that when the Druchii are after me." I yelled.

"Did you just yell at me dove?" Al asked squinting his eyes at me as he shut his book. Crap on toast. I should have thought of that but I'm not going to let Al intimidate me anymore. I was a demon too and I wasn't going to be pushed around just because he had been doing it longer.

"Yes I did. You're supposed to be teaching me and I'm not learning anything that's going to help me. I have nothing to use on the offensive. I need your help." I said more calmly.

"Give me fifty-six hours a week for a month and you have a deal." Al countered.

"Deal." I said before he could change his mind. Al hummed his way around the library retrieving books and setting them on a table he had misted into existence. I wasn't sure what we would be needing that many books for but I wasn't going to question him now that he was helping me. Al had finally pulled his last book and misted some chairs in as he dropped it on the table.

"Sit." He demanded. "Now go through these books and find anything you can about the Druchii." He handed me a stack of four books. I opened the first one and groaned. My Latin sucked dishwater and the whole book was written in it. "You have to learn to read it. You're a demoness after all and they know how to read Latin."

Al had left me alone to do my research. He said he had a potential familiar to check on and that I better have found something by the time he returned. Six hours and four books later I came across the word _dryadalis_ which was Latin for elf. The curse looked easy enough. The only thing I needed was something from the elf I was focusing on, a piece of hair would work just fine. If my interpretation was correct the curse would make it so that the elf you cursed would only be able to use their magic for good. This I could work with. I thought about calling Al to see if he would let me leave early but I figured that would be pushing my luck. I copied down how to perform the curse just in case Al didn't let me borrow the book.

"Al? I found it." I said out loud to the empty room. "You wanna check it out and make sure I can use this one?" I sat down in one of the chairs closest to the fireplace thinking Al couldn't hear me but then I was jumped into the kitchen.

"Thanks." I said to Al. "So you want to look?"

"No. I trust your judgement Rachel." He said.

I spent the rest of my time there stirring him the curse that makes him look like a British gentlemen. It was a pretty quiet visit and I thought it weird Al didn't have more smart remarks for me. I took it with a grain of salt thinking maybe he was upset about my working so closely with Trent. He dropped me back home at midnight the following night in my kitchen.

"Trent!" I exclaimed as I saw him sitting at my spot at the table. "What are you doing here?"

He hiccuped then giggled. Did he just giggle? I heard Ivy do the same. I looked at the other end of the table where Ivy was sitting. They both had shot glasses in front of them. Jenks was in the middle of the table flat on his back, his wings spread wide and his glass was filled with honey. He didn't appear to be awake but I could hear him singing softly about blood and daisies. Finally taking in the rest of the scene in the kitchen I think I knew what had happened.

The kitchen table had not one, not two, but three empty bottles of pre-turn whiskey. They were drunk. I didn't know Ivy drank anything besides wine.

"Rachel's home!" Ivy slurred her words. "We missed you. How was your deeeemon time? Did you find a spell?" Ivy dropped her head on the table as if those words were just too much work right now.

"What's the occasion guys?" I asked gathering the bottles and dropping them into the trash.

"You." Trent said as he finished off the whiskey in his glass.

"Aww shucks but you guys could have gotten me flowers." I said sarcastically.

They all laughed at that one taking much longer than normal to stop. I couldn't deal with this right now. I was tired and I stank like the ever-after and they were giggling like school girls.

"Raaaachel. You know you're beautiful when you're angry." Trent hiccuped.

"She smells good too!" Ivy piped in.

"That's it. Ivy time for bed." I walked over and helped her stand. She dropper her arm over my shoulders and let me guide her to her room. I tried to drop her down to her bed but she didn't let go of me and I fell clumsily on top of her. "Ivy!"

She giggled. "You smell good Rachel. Go put on some of your perfume. I like Trent. I think he loves you. Be nice to him okay."

"You got it." I said prying her arms off of my neck. "Go to sleep." I pulled the covers up over her and she was out as soon as her eyes closed. I went back to the kitchen thankful that Trent hadn't moved. He somehow had made another bottle of whiskey appear and Jenks was in a sitting position. Where was he hiding them? They were both singing a country song that neither one could quite get the words right. It reminded me of drunken karaoke.

"Hey Rache is home!" Jenks yelled. "Where did you come from?"

"Hey Jenks. You should probably lay off the honey." I said taking his shot glass and turning it upside down in the sink.

"Damn witch is never any fun." Jenks thought he was whispering to Trent.

"I bet I could get her to loosen up." Trent winked at Jenks.

"You gotta nail her first then she's putty in your hands." Jenks responded. They both hiccuped and laughed. This was disgusting. I could not believe they were having a conversation about nailing me right in front of me! Men!

"Jenks bed!" I insisted, raising my voice.

"Rache, where did you come from? I thought you were with Al?" Jenks said realizing I was still in the room.

"I think she's back." Trent answered. Good lord these two would be the death of me tonight.

"Trent did you drive yourself over?" I asked.

"Yup. Nooo babysitter for me." He jingled his keys in front of him. I snatched them out of his hands.

"You aren't driving. I can call Quen if you want or you can stay here and sleep it off." I offered.

"I think she just asked you to stay the night!" Jenks exclaimed.

"I think she did too. Wanna sleep with me Rache?" Trent slurred. I sighed. On another occasion those words may have made me want to do just that but tonight when he was drunk in my kitchen the last thing I thought about doing was sleeping with him.

"Lets go Trent." I came over and wrapped my arm around his back and helped him up from his chair. He put his arm around my shoulders just as Ivy had and let me direct him to where ever I was taking him. I thought about putting him on the couch but figured something more private would be appropriate. We didn't have a guest room so I was taking him to my bed. We made it to my bedroom and through the door before the giggles hit him again.

"Rachel, I'm alone with you in your room. I've wanted to do this for years." He sounded like a teenage boy in a girls room for the first time.

"Yeah, me too." I mumbled moving closer to the bed, ready to drop him. I had a feeling he was going to do the same thing as Ivy had and sure enough when I tried to lay him down he didn't let go of me and took me down too. I was kind of okay with the idea of being on top of Trent but maybe not so much when he smelled like he had just climbed out of a bottle of whiskey. I tried to wiggle out of his grip and it just wasn't working.

"Trent. Can you let go? I need to move." I asked. He loosened his hold on me.

"Sorry Rachellll." Trent laughed. I settled for laying in bed next to him with my head on his chest.

"Go to sleep Trent. You'll feel better in the morning." I said running my finger along his jawline.

"You staying with me?" He asked finally being able to say something without laughing. I liked that he was a happy drunk but I just didn't have the energy for it tonight.

"I'm not going anywhere." I said shutting my eyes and feeling his chest move up and down with each breath.

"Good. I think I love you Rachel." Trent said as he closed his eyes.

"I think I might feel the same way." I whispered but he was already snoring.

* * *

It was only eleven in the morning but someone would not stop banging on the front door. Trent was still snoring away out cold. I assumed Ivy was also sleeping as she wasn't getting up to answer the door. There should be some pixies awake. Why weren't they getting it? I wanted to stay in bed with Trent. He was so warm and smelled like cinnamon and trees. I heard the banging again. Shit. I'm going to have to get up because they aren't going away. I carefully climbed over Trent trying to not wake him. I think I could have jumped on the bed and he would have slept through it.

I made my way to the front door in my rumpled clothes from yesterday stinking of the ever-after. I lifted the lock bar from the door and opened it. There was a very angry Quen on my doorstep.

"Hey Quen." I mumbled and walked back into the church leaving the door open for him to follow.

"Where is Trenton?" He demanded.

"Hey now! I didn't make him stay here. I got back from my weekly visit with Al to come back to him and Ivy drunk in the kitchen! I had to put both of them to bed!" I yelled at him. "Don't blame me. Go yell at your boss!" I was grumpy in the morning before my coffee and I felt bad. It wasn't Quen's fault.

"I apologize Rachel. Trenton missed a meeting this morning and it is very unlike him to do such a thing. I was concerned for his safety." Quen stood a good six feet away from me.

"Apology accepted. He's passed out in my bed." I said making my way to the kitchen to get some coffee going. Quen followed.

"Would you mind if I wait until he is awake?" Quen asked taking a seat in my chair at the table.

"Sure. No problem. I can wake him up?" I offered.

"No." Quen smiled. "Sa'han does not get the chance to do things like this often. Let him enjoy it."

I laughed. "Oh he won't be enjoying it once he's awake. They polished off three bottles." Quen raised his eyebrows and whistled. My face turned serious at Trent's words from last night. "Can I ask you something personal about Trent?"

"You may ask but I can not promise that I will answer." Quen said meeting my eyes. Fair enough.

"Does Trent love me?" I blurted.

Quen was so taken aback by the question that he stood up. "I can not tell you where his feelings lie." He sat back down. "I feel it is Trenton's place to answer such questions."

"You're right. I shouldn't have asked you that. Want some coffee?" I flipped the switch on the pot on knowing Ivy already had it prepped.

"Yes, coffee would be nice." Quen nodded.

"Didn't get much sleep with Trent staying out all night huh?" I asked watching the coffee brew.

"No. He has never done this before. I want to treat him like an adult but he is like a son to me. I would never forgive myself if anything had happened to him." Quen said quietly.

The coffee had finished brewing and I retrieved two mugs and filled them up, setting one down in front of Quen while I settled myself against the counter. We were silently sipping our coffee when Quen cleared his throat. I turned to him to see he had been watching me.

I felt self conscience. "What?"

"He's trying to be a better man for you." Quen met my eyes. "Did you realize you are the only reason Jonathan is not dead?"

I nodded. I knew what Trent had been doing for a long time. I just didn't want to see it. I had ignored my feelings, and his feelings hoping it would just go away. I silently prayed someone would wake up soon so I didn't have to endure this conversation with Quen.

"You have my blessing." He said simply and returned to his coffee.

"Thank you." I whispered knowing that it would mean a lot to Trent.

I heard Ivy swearing from her bedroom followed shortly by the slam of the bathroom door. I smiled knowing the smell of the coffee is what woke her. I heard the hum of pixy wings and Jenks came through the hole in the screen.

"Good morning Jenks." Quen said.

"About time you lunkers got up! Do you know how hard it is trying to keep fifty kids outside so you can sleep?" Jenks shrieked. "Morning Quen. Can I get some of that coffee Rache?" He rubbed his head.

"Sure Jenks. You have a headache?" I asked bringing one of the child size cups we had for Jenks and setting it on the table.

"Yeah. These kids drive me batty. This is so hard without Mattie." Jenks said into his cup.

"You do great Jenks. You're an amazing Dad." I said carefully avoiding the subject of his late wife.

"Thanks Rache." Jenks smiled up at me. "Cookie farts still sleeping it off?"

Quen choked on his coffee. "Cookie farts?"

I laughed. "Uh it's kind of a pet name for Trent."

"I think I would enjoy spending a day with you Rachel." Quen laughed.

"Yeah, she does children's parties too." Jenks chimed in.

"Shut up Jenks."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"No Jenks, I don't want to just jump in there on a line with no warning." I argued. I hated it when people surprised me and unless I was going to be doing some ass kicking I didn't like surprising people either. "I would rather have a chance to talk to her first. See if we can come to a truce or something."

"Tink's titties Rache, what makes you think she's going to back down? You're basically banging her baby daddy." Jenks snickered.

I groaned. It wasn't the best choice of words or entirely true but I could see how she would see it that way. Ivy was sitting in front of her computer, her eyes jumping back and forth between Jenks and I. Trent had finally gotten up a few hours after Quen had arrived and left immediately. He had said about three words to me but I figured it was more out of embarrassment than anything else and I wasn't going to push him. Ivy was pretty quiet about last nights events and Jenks was tight lipped which was strange. What by the turn did the three of them talk about last night?

"Okay I admit that's probably not going to work. I have to include Trent in the planning. He's coming with me to deal with that bitch whether he wants to or not." I stated, getting up from my spot at the table to refill my coffee cup.

Ivy pursed her lips. "I thought we were going to handle this one as a team?"

"I thought about it and with all the damage a Druchii can do I don't want you guys anywhere near one. I can handle this. I don't even need Trent's help but since this is all his fault.." I sat back down letting the coffee warm my hands.

"I don't think that's a good idea. You need your damn back up Rache! Just because you're embracing being a demon does not mean you don't need us anymore!" Jenks turned bright red and dropped dust from the hanging rack. I turned to Jenks not understanding why he was getting so upset about this.

Ivy sighed. "Jenks, she's gonna do it on her own. We might as well just help her plan it."

* * *

"Phone. You want to get that before it wakes my kids up?" Jenks said.

"Vampiric Charms." I answered as soon as I finally heard it ring.

"Hello Rachel." Came that smooth as silk voice. God I loved hearing him talk.

"Hey Trent. What's up?" I said. _All you could come up with was what's up?_

"I was hoping you might be free for dinner? We uh haven't talked about the spell you found." Trent said covering up his offer for dinner with an excuse for me to go.

I smiled. I liked him a lot. I didn't need excuses to go to dinner with the man. "Yeah I'm available. Say seven?"

"Seven is perfect. My compound. See you then Rache." Trent replied.

"Sounds good. Bye." I hung up.

Jenks had a huge grin across his face.

"What?" I asked turning red at his expression.

"You're not coming home tonight." Jenks explained.

"Oh. Well. We don't know that! I don't have any plan to stay there. I'm going to play it smart Jenks." I had to get in the shower. Seven was only two hours away.

"Play it safe right into his bed." Jenks joked.

"Make sure you shave!" Ivy yelled from the kitchen.

I didn't have any privacy around those two. I slammed the bathroom door shut and began my shower. Twenty minutes later I made my way to the bedroom slamming that door behind me hoping it would keep Jenks out. He's seen me in less than a towel before but I wasn't trying to make a habit of it. Just as I had finished slipping on my underwear I heard his wings.

"You aren't wearing those panties are you?" He asked from me dresser.

I grabbed my towel covering myself back up. "Jenks get out! Wait! What's wrong with these?"

"They aren't any fun." He laughed slipping back out under my door.

Now that he had made me rethink my choice in undergarments I wondered what I was going to wear. Trent was use to seeing me in my working leathers and even less of a top. I didn't want to dress like that today. I wanted to go causal but I also wanted to look sexy. Trent had also seen me naked once but I would rather leave him with a better memory than one of me covered in hair.

"Ivy!" I called knowing she would hear me if she was in the church.

A moment later the door opened but she didn't come in any farther seeing as I was only in my bra and underwear. "Uh, Rachel?"

"I need your help! I don't know what to wear." I bit my lip and stared at my closet.

Her eyes slightly dilated. "It's just Trent. Wear your leathers and a halter."

I let my breath out. "I want to look nice." I was feeling embarrassed with Ivy standing in my door and only having underwear on but dang it I needed help from a girl and not from Jenks. I couldn't dress myself to save my life if you asked Trent but I was going to try.

Ivy flew into motion and headed straight for my closet. Muttering to herself things I couldn't quite catch I wished Jenks would barge in so I would know what she was saying. After spending five minutes going through my things, I ended up with an outfit on my bed. It was a pair of blue jeans but they were a designer pair that made my butt look amazing. Their was a white camisole and a blue blouse that was see through to go with it. The blue had always made my hair look a darker shade of red that I wished for. She had pulled out a pair of black ballet flats to go with. I would look causal but not trashy like Jenks liked to point out.

"Thanks Ivy." I smiled.

"You're welcome. So I probably shouldn't expect you home tonight?" She asked with a hint of jealously in her voice.

"I don't know. I don't really have a plan." I answered not returning her stare.

"Well have fun anyways." Ivy gently touched my arm and left the room closing the door behind her. Yeah fun. That's what I was going to have.

* * *

I was a nervous wreck when I parked my car in front of Trent's. It's not like I hadn't been here fifty times now but I was here under different pretenses. Our relationship had shifted and I didn't come here to argue or work for him. Quen met me at the door which helped ease my nerves.

"Ceri wants to say hello if you don't mind?" Quen asked as I followed him through the halls.

"You don't even need to ask Quen, of course I'd love to see Ceri." I smiled.

We arrived at Trent's private quarters and Ceri was laying in the middle of the floor surrounded by toys but no babies. Quen cleared his throat as we came in but Ceri only cracked an eye and didn't move.

I laughed. "Those girls got you beat."

"Oh God yes Rachel. I love them more than life itself but nap time is the best time of the day." She smiled getting up off the floor. She came over and embraced me in a quick hug.

"I was hoping to say hi to them too." I pouted.

"Well if they wake up I will be sure to let you check on them." Ceri giggled. "You're having dinner with Trenton?" She eyed me becoming serious.

"Yes." I said nervously shuffling my feet.

"Well you look beautiful. I like seeing you without the leather once in a while." She said cheerfully picking up the mess the girls had made. Quen had already excused himself so it was just Ceri and I. I plopped down on Trent's overstuffed couch and felt like I could melt into it.

"Thanks." Came my sarcastic reply. "Ceri, am I doing the right thing here?"

A look of confusion crossed her face.

"I mean with Ellasbeth. Should I be trying to take her magic from her? Or at least make it so she can only do good with it?" I was confused myself as to what was right and wrong.

"Do good by whose definition of what is right or wrong?" Ceri questioned.

"Uh." I didn't have an answer for that.

"Is it a curse?" Ceri said causally.

"Yes." I said reluctantly.

"Then it will be by your definition of what is good and what is not. Do you want her to stop Rachel? Do you want her to be able to have a Druchii possess your family or your friends?" Ceri dropped an arm load of toys into one of the bins.

"No. I want it to end without us having to kill her." I said into my hands.

"Well then do not stress. You do what you have to do to keep your loved ones safe. The smut is worth their safety is it not?"

"Of course it is. I just feel like I'm taking away her choice in the matter." I said finally admitting that taking someones freewill was a problem to me.

"Maybe she should not have a choice. She has a choice now and look at what she does with it. She is even putting her own daughter in harms way by her choices." Ceri said with a lot of anger.

"You're right." Finding some of my own anger at Ellasbeth's choices. "This will end. I won't have her risking my goddaughters."

"I'm glad to hear that." Trent joined in.

"Trent!" I exclaimed and stood up. I hadn't heard him come in and I was embarrassed he had snuck up on me again. Ceri smiled and quietly excused herself from the room. He smiled and took my hand gingerly putting his lips upon it. I felt a tingle start at my hand and move through my body at the small gesture.

"Dinner is almost ready. We had a small incident in the kitchen, please excuse the delay." Trent said letting my hand go.

"An incident?" I questioned.

He laughed. "The girls kind of made a mess of every single cabinet in there."

"Oh." I laughed happy that it had nothing to do with any of the mess that I've been causing.

"Sometimes we do have things happen around here that aren't your fault Rachel." Trent joked picking up on where my thoughts had gone.

"But it's rare." I whispered.

"None of that tonight." He said taking my hand and silently led me through the compound.

We ended up in his back office that opened up into his gardens. It was beautiful. The sun was just starting to set with it being almost fall. The leaves on the trees were starting to change and the smell of everything outside was changing. I loved when the seasons changed. Trent and I stood side by side at the edge of his patio area just admiring everything. It took a moment to realize that Trent wasn't looking at the gardening but was watching me.

"I love that look. The look of pure amazement that comes across you face." Trent smiled.

"I will take that as a compliment Mr. Kalamack." I said returning his smile.

Trent moved so fast I had missed it. I was pinned up against the wall of the house with his body pressed against mine.

"How do you do that?" I didn't understand how I never saw him move.

"It's an elf thing." He said simply as he pressed his lips against mine.

I felt the tingling start at my lips and work its way through my body. It felt amazing and Trent's hands being all over the place definitely helped intensify the feeling. I had the sudden urge to try a power pull with Trent but let it quickly die. I didn't want to hurt him and seeing as I wasn't sure what he was capable of channeling it didn't seem like the best idea. I had my hands in his hair and he had his hands, well one was on my ass and the other on my breast, and then he very abruptly pulled away.

A second later I heard Quen announce that dinner was ready from inside the office. I could strangle Quen right now. Trent sighed with the same amount of frustration that I was feeling.

"Be there in a minute." Trent mumbled.

"So you gonna feed me elf boy?" I joked.

"Yes, lets get dinner." Trent took my hand and led me out of the office.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

We were almost back to the common room and I felt a pulling sensation inside of me. I stopped in the middle of the hall wrapping an arm around my middle. That was weird. I felt it again but stronger this time. I couldn't seem to catch my breath. Trent stopped and turned in time to see me drop to my knees. I was gasping not able to get enough air as the feeling increased. It almost felt like I was being summoned but it was different, maybe like what a summoning would feel like being sucked through a vacuum hose.

Trent rushed forward putting a hand on my back. "Are you being summoned?"

"No." I panted. "This is different. Trent it's her. It has to be. I have the spell to stop her." I was surprised I could get it all out as the feeling finally took me as I felt myself pulled into the ley line to end up who knows where. The last thing I saw was the look of determination in Trent's eyes. I felt better knowing he would have my back.

The lines felt different tonight. Maybe hotter? I held myself together as I was pulled through a line that felt wet and slippery and broken. The west coast. I remembered from being in San Francisco. It wasn't a pleasant feeling and I didn't know how anyone could get use to using these lines. I expected to materialize in a dingy basement or an abandoned old warehouse, not where I landed. I was in a hotel room, probably an expensive suite by the looks of it. I only knew for sure it was a hotel by the emblems on the lamps. My vision wasn't adjusting to the sunlight very well, it looked wrong coming in the window at that angle.

I looked around and I couldn't hear or see anyone, the best part being I wasn't in a bubble. The smell of burnt amber swirled around me but I knew it was just me that I was smelling. I pulled my cell out of my back pocket and dialed Trent's number.

"Rachel." He breathed picking up on the first ring.

"Hey. I'm on the west coast somewhere. Uh, the Hyatt Suites." I said picking up one of the notepads on an end table next to the couch.

"That's my hotel. You're in Seattle." Trent said glumly. "I was really hoping you had been wrong about Ellasbeth. Can you get out?"

"Lets find out." I said walking towards the only door I could see. I felt it as I approached knowing that I wasn't going to be able to get through right away. "I think there's a ward. It feels pretty powerful. I think I can get through it with a little finesse."

"No!" Trent yelled almost making me drop the phone. "Don't do it. I don't know what kind of ward it is and you could end up being blown up. Just sit tight. I'm coming okay?"

"You can't. It's a trap for you Trent. If you come then you'll be stuck and that's what she wants." I snapped. "Get Jenks. You'll need him." I didn't want to drag him into this but Jenks could get past any ward.

"I hadn't planned on traveling with passengers." Trent sighed.

"You'll need Jenks." I stated. "You know he can get through any ward."

"Fine." Trent grumbled. "But I'm still coming. I'm not leaving you to deal with this on your own when it's my fault."

"Fine." I went to hang up but put the phone back to my ear. "Trent?"

"Yes?" He said with a slight hesitation at the change in my tone.

"Don't get dead okay?" I whispered.

"You either." He said back cutting off the call.

Swell. I was stuck in a hotel room with no obvious way out. Might as well get comfortable. I plopped down on the couch resting my head on the back. How did I always get myself into situations like this? All I was trying to do was have dinner and I end up on the other side of the United States. I sighed. The story of my life. I'd given up trying to have that normal apple pie life but this wasn't what I wanted to trade it for.

I had to get out of here. I sat up and looked around the room. There were several doors in the back of the room probably all leading to bedrooms and as I approached all of them I felt the same power pushing on me preventing me from opening them. I couldn't even get to the door that led to the balcony. I trusted Trent but I couldn't wait for him to fly out here. I had another thought that scared me more. He had said before that elves could travel the lines with enough prep work. I wondered if that was something he had been prepping in his spelling hut? It wouldn't surprise me but he doesn't think before he acts and he doesn't listen to me either. I wonder if I could summon Al if he could find a way out but if I summoned him to only be as stuck as me he would be pissed. That wasn't going to work. What if they just summoned me out? I still had to get to Ellasbeth and perform the curse. It was easier if I just stayed here and waited for her to come.

I walked around the room trailing my fingers across the invisible barrier looking for a weak spot. Just when I was about to give up and sit back down I found it. It was a spot about an inch wide and three inches long but it was so weak I could stick my fingers through it. It was right in front of the door that led to the hall. I wondered how I could make it big enough to fit through. I reached out my thoughts to the nearest line, feeling like I was running a slippery eel through my thoughts.

"Blek!" I said out loud at the feeling of the line. The lines were better here than they were in San Francisco. I stuck my fingers back into the small hole I had found and tried to push the energy out through them. It was working! As I kept turning my fingers around the hole and pushed the line energy out the hole was getting bigger. It finally got big enough that I could stick my upper body through then just drop to the other side. I stuck my arm through and so far so good. Taking a big chance I stuck my head through and nothing happened. I hurriedly stuck the rest of my upper body through dropping through to the other side. My shoulder hit the door kind of hard but it was worth it. I wasn't stuck anymore.

I yanked the door open and made my way down the hall towards the elevator. I pulled my phone back out and call Trent back.

"Rachel, I'm working on getting Jenks. He's telling Bis what's going on right now." Trent said impatiently.

"I'm out can you try to jump me back to you? Or just summon me?" I said smiling at the silence that was Trent's answer.

"Tink's little pink dildo how did she get through a ward?" I heard Jenks probably talking from Trent's shoulder.

"I found a weak spot and climbed through. Can someone just summon me home?" I hit the button for the elevator getting a bad feeling. The elevator started creeping up very slowly but for some reason I had the urge to take the stairs. When it was two floors away from being here I turned around and ran for the stairs. I made it there just as I heard the elevator ding to open. I was tucked in the corner by the door not daring to open it but you couldn't get a clear view of me from the elevator. Then I heard a voice I knew.

"Rachel, what's happening. Why are you running?" Trent asked. I didn't answer him but kept the line open so he could hear it too.

"Do you think she knows it's you?" A voice I knew asked someone he was walking with.

"I don't care if the little whore knows it's me." Ellasbeth snapped.

"He doesn't like this. He's fighting me. With that damn focus being in here he can overpower my thoughts." The voice told her.

"We just need him long enough to get the information from her. She's trapped in that ward." Ellasbeth sounded confident. "We'll cut him loose as soon as I'm finished with her."

"He says she's gonna kick your ice princess ass from here back to Cincinnati." He responded.

Ellasbeth snorted. "I've got her. There's no way for her to get out. I set the ward myself."

I would have given my pinkie finger to have my splat gun right about now. I could have plugged Ellasbeth and David then got the Druchii out of him. This was going to be difficult. Trent was silent on the line but I could hear Jenks' kids in the background so I knew they were hearing everything that I was.

Ellasbeth opened the door to the suite. "No! No! NO! How did she do it? How did that little tramp do it?" She was screaming so loud people started opening doors on surrounding rooms. I tucked myself all the way into the stairwell quietly shutting the door behind me.

"Summon me home now unless you want me to take her out alone." I whispered to Trent shutting the phone and shoving it back in my pocket. I knew he would summon me, wanting to be in on taking Ellasbeth down.

* * *

"I can't keep waiting! She has David! I don't even know if I can pull the Druchii out seeing that he has the focus!" I yelled at Trent.

"He has the focus?" Trent questioned.

"Trent! This is serious. What if I can't do it? What if that messes it all up? I can't have anything happen to him." I said quietly.

"Rachel. We will make a plan and go from there. Ivy agrees we need a plan. We can't go in there guns blazing and think it will work out for the best. Look at the trouble she went through to try to trap you. We need to have a plan." Trent explained calmly.

Ivy was in front of the fridge with eyes almost fully black with all the emotion I was throwing at her. I couldn't help it. I didn't want anything to happen to David. Trent and Ivy were ready to plan this run into the ground. Jenks and I were ready to go with plan B.

"I have a plan. Plan B. Let's go." I said dropping my head into my hands knowing they weren't going to listen.

"Plan B? What's plan B?" Trent muttered.

"Grab the fish and run like hell." Jenks joked.

"Bingo! Now lets grab David and get the hell out of there." I said.

"No. Rachel you don't know what else she could have planned. What if she has already let David go and she has your mother? What if she has both of them?" Ivy said having some brown return to her eyes now that I had calmed down.

"I already called my mom and Donald. I called Robbie and Marshall too. They are all fine and haven't had anyone try to abduct them." I turned and poured myself another cup of coffee. At this rate I was never going to sleep but how could I when my friends are in danger.

Trent came over and wrapped an arm around my waist. I let him and I kept my eyes on Ivy. Her eyes went full black again but she quickly recovered. I set my hand on top of his and leaned into him. He smelled like cinnamon and ice cream. Good enough to eat. _Stop it Rachel! _My friend is basically being held hostage and I'm thinking about eating Trent. I was horrible. I turned red feeling embarrassed for being such a bad friend. Jenks snickered guessing what I had been thinking about. I was fairly certain both Trent and Ivy knew my pulse had increased but I wasn't going to draw attention to it.

I pulled away and everyone was looking at me waiting for me to blow up again. "I just need to take a minute to calm down okay? I'm just going to my room." I walked out of the kitchen and headed to my bedroom. I closed the door just as I heard Trent tell Ivy and Jenks he was going to talk to me. That was exactly what I wanted. If I could just get him alone maybe he would hear me out.

I sat on the bed and waited for Trent. He tapped lightly on the door then opened it.

"Don't say anything. Just listen to me okay? We can't wait. We need to move now. Are you coming with me or not?" I said looking him straight in the eye.

"I'm coming." He was uncomfortable with the choice I was making but he wasn't going to ask me to change it.

"Good. Now jump us over there elf boy. I know you have a way to do it." I smiled.

"I did find a spell in my mother's library but I haven't had a chance to try it yet." Trent smoothed down his hair, one of his tells for being nervous.

"Well now is a good a time as any. Let's go." I jumped up and moved closer to him.

Trent took my hands in his and tapped the line. "_Adferte ad me ire per._" I felt like we just shimmered out of existence. We were traveling the lines back to the west coast and I was holding the protective bubble around ours thoughts. I could feel Trent thinking he was going to be sick and I couldn't help but feel kind of satisfied. It's not as easy as it looks elf boy. We finally stopped and I felt my body being pulled back together in the middle of a grocery store?

"Trent! What the hell are we doing in a store?" I smacked his arm.

"Ouch." Trent still looked kind of green and maybe hitting him wasn't the best idea. I looked around to see a crowd had gathered around us seeing as we had just appeared out of nowhere. By the looks of it they were all human. Crap on toast. Maybe if I said boo they might all run away and stop staring. That was when I saw him. David was on the other side of the produce section and it didn't seem like he had noticed us yet. I grabbed Trent yanking him down behind a bin of apples.

"David is over there. So where's Ellasbeth?" I whispered.

"I don't know. I thought of David not Ellasbeth." Trent said explaining how we had landed here and not where ever she was.

"I wish I could just down him with a splat ball right now." I exhaled.

"Your wish is my command." Trent joked pulling out my splat gun from the back of his jeans.

"How did you get it?" I asked taking it from his grip.

"I knew you were going to want to leave. I just thought I would be prepared. I have some charms out of your cabinet too. Jenks told me to take them. He knew you'd go with plan B." He grinned.

I grinned back standing up to take aim at David. As I rose with the gun the people staring finally realized this wasn't the place to be and shrieked and spread. Good. It gave me a clear shot at David. I waited for three seconds to make sure David wasn't moving and hit him square in the chest with the sleepy time charm. He went down taking a half a row of lettuce with him.

I shoved the gun into the back of my leather pants and went over to David. Trent beat me there. "He still has the Druchii in him."

"Lets get him out of here and we can take care of that." I said putting a shoulder under David's arm and heaving him up. Trent followed taking the other side of him. To a human it looked like we were just carrying a drunk friend home. To an Inderlander it could look like so many different things, maybe the start of a bad joke. So a were, an elf, and a demon walk into a bar.

David had picked a good grocery store to shop at. It was right across the street from a hotel. Luckily it wasn't the same hotel I had been in earlier. We crossed the street and made it to a sitting area in the lobby. Trent left me with David and went to get us a more private location to remove the Druchii. He came back with our key cards and helped me get David up. We made it to the elevator watching Trent hit the twelfth floor, of course we were on the top floor.

"Did it really have to be the penthouse Trent? We aren't going to be here for that long." I complained.

"I'm not staying in another room Rachel. Haven't you heard that saying go big or go home?" He joked. I turned red at the innuendo thinking of other things. Trent smirked knowing where my thoughts had traveled.

The elevator dinged and opened up into a lobby of some sort outside the penthouse suite. "The whole top floor?" I guessed. Trent just smiled his heart stopping smile and slipped the key card in to unlock the door. We pulled David inside and dropped him on the couch.

"He'll stay out until we pour salt water on him right?" Trent stretched his arms after pulling David so far. David wasn't a very big man but he was heavier than he looked. I nodded my head stretching also. I really needed to start running again. I wonder if Trent would go with me? Yeah that would be great for the press. Us running together at the zoo. That wasn't going to happen.

Trent locked eyes with me. "Rachel, I think we need to talk."

I winced. I had heard that before and I didn't want to hear it from Trent. "What?" I asked flatly, thinking the worst was coming.

"No! Don't take it that way. It's not a bad thing." Trent moved over to stand in front of me but keeping a small amount of space between us. "I like you a lot. I like working with you. You don't treat me like I can't handle things on my own."

"Oh." I was confused. "That's what you wanted to talk about?"

"No. I uh, well I wanted to make sure you felt the same way about me." He said quietly. "I think you like me but if this isn't going to go anywhere I don't want to keep trying. I've waited so long for you. I just want to know if you're willing to really give us a chance?"

I wasn't confused about how I felt anymore. I knew I wanted Trent. I was pretty sure I was up for being his girlfriend. I just hated having these adult conversations. "Trent I'm not going anywhere. I like you. I would date you. Okay? Happy? I said it."

He smiled. "You would date me?"

I closed the space between us pressing his lips to mine. He tasted like cinnamon and suddenly I just couldn't get enough, running my tongue along his bottom lip. I ran a hand through his hair and wrapped the other around his neck. He had his arms around my waist slowly moving their way down to my backside. He slipped his tongue past my lips and that intensified everything. I felt a tingle run through my body finally settling at my groin. I moaned and jumped up, wrapping my legs around his waist. He supported my weight and moved us to one of the doors in the back of the suite.

We crashed through it more than opened it. I could hear the wood crack and that didn't separate us. Trent pushed me up against the wall and started kissing my neck all the way down to my shoulder carefully avoiding my vamp scars. I trailed my hand down from his hair, across his ear, and down to his chest. Trent grabbed me almost painfully tight and moved me over to a table sending a lamp and other things crashing to the floor, neither of us caring about the broken glass. I took his shirt into my hands thankful that it was a button down and pulled, hearing the satisfied tinking of the buttons hitting the table.

The thought of Trent standing behind my mother's car shirtless flashed through my mind but I had the real thing right in front of me. He was gorgeous. Not an ounce of fat on him, just enough muscle. I ran my hands down his chest and abs listening to his breath increase and I touched him.

He grabbed my hands stopping the motion. "Are you sure about this Rachel?"

"Hell yes." I yanked my hands free and touched him again. He was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. I leaned forward and lightly pressed my lips to his chest slowly moving lower.

"Oh god Rachel." Trent moaned. I pulled away giving him a second to catch his breath. He took it as an opportunity to rip my shirt off.

"Hey! I liked that shirt." I pouted.

"Talk less." Trent said and started kissing my neck and shoulder and moved down to my chest. My breath hitched as he slowly removed my bra. The tingles in me increased ten fold every time he was touching my skin and I didn't know how much more I could take. I was panting as his mouth found my breast. I laid, back flat on the table as he began to remove my leather pants. He stopped to admire the view once I was completely naked.

"Like what you see Mr. Kalamack?" I said.

"Mm-hmm." He licked his lips as he picked me up and moved me to the king sized bed. Somewhere on the trip he had lost his pants. He goes commando. Never would have guessed.

He positioned himself over me and that was when I got nervous. "Have you ever been with a witch?"

"No, but I know what to expect. Have you ever been with an elf?" Trent kissed my neck and nibbled on my ear.

"No. Is this tingling going to increase?" I sighed at the feeling of his lips.

"You feel it?" Trent pulled away.

"Yeah. Should I not?" I asked increasing my nervousness.

"It's a good thing. I'm just surprised." He said returning to kissing my body.

"Mmm." I purred as his lips moved all over. "Trent, now please. I can't wait any longer."

He slowly moved himself at my opening and slid in. I gasped at his size not realizing how big he really was. I ran my nails down his back and shoulders knowing it would be red tomorrow and not caring. I felt the tingles increase again and I almost climaxed then.

"Trent I don't know how much more I can take." Feeling him go in and out so slowly was driving me crazy. The tingles had spread everywhere and it was better than a vampire bite.

"I'm just getting started." Trent whispered in my ear. "_Dilato._"

I screamed at the increase of every single sensation I was feeling as everything went black.


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry it took so long to update! Just a few more chapters left of the story. I switched between Rachel's POV and Trent's POV in this chapter. Hope you guys like it! **

Chapter 15

I opened my eyes to Trent's arms wrapped around me. I wasn't sure how long I had been sleeping but it didn't feel nearly long enough. I stretched my body feeling muscles pull in ways they hadn't in a long time. I had just had sex with Trent Kalamack. I can't believe that just happened.

"Shit! David!" I tried to get out of the bed but I was tangled in the sheet and fell to the floor. "Ouch. Ouch. Damn it!"

I untangled myself and threw the sheet back at the bed. Trent was sitting up with an amused expression on his face. "You okay?"

"Don't look so smug. So you finally nailed me. Can we take care of the Druchii thing?" I snapped at him.

"Finally nailed you?" His eyes held only amusement. "David's fine Rachel. I took care of the Druchii while you were sleeping. You've been out for hours. Elven magic sure packs a punch with you." He smiled.

I had learned a long time ago that you couldn't argue with a man in his underwear. It's even harder to argue with one when he's naked and has a body like Trent's. I bit my lip and looked Trent up and down only now seeing the sun peaking in from behind the curtains. It was morning? Holy crap. How long did we have sex? Trent followed my eyes to the curtains and his smile grew.

I climbed back into bed seeing as I was still naked and I took Trent's word that David was okay. I was irritated that I missed out on getting rid of the Druchii but I trusted Trent with David.

"It doesn't feel like that much time had passed. And I, um, like your elven magic." I felt embarrassed admitting that.

"Last night was amazing." He kissed my shoulder.

"It was, wasn't it." I smiled. "So where's David?"

"He's in one of the other rooms. We figured you would want to see for yourself that he's safe. The Druchii possessing him wasn't very powerful and the focus did not interfere with removing it. Relax Rachel. You can trust me." He whispered into my neck.

"I know. I do. I don't know how that happened." I joked.

Trent laughed. "Time. Lots of time."

I sat up, propping my back against the massive headboard. I pulled the blanket up around me covering myself as Trent moved to see me. "We going to end this?"

"We have to find her first. I wasn't prepared to do a locator charm." Trent said.

"We can use a finding spell. I just need some supplies and we'll have her found by noon." I felt pretty confident that we would end this with her today.

"If she's using wards then it could be a little more complicated than you anticipate." Trent explained.

"Are you doubting my abilities again Mr. Kalamack?" I leaned down and kissed his lips.

"Not at all Ms. Morgan. I know from experience about your abilities." He returned my kiss making my heart race.

"Then stuff it in your ear Trent." I jumped off the bed wrapping the sheet around myself seeing as Trent had ruined my shirt. "I need clothes." I mumbled as I picked up the pieces I could put back on.

"I'll have the front desk bring a new shirt for you." Trent reached over and lifted the receiver to the phone on the nightstand.

I heard the ringing but I wasn't sure where it was coming from. I picked up my pants but my phone wasn't ringing. Had to be Trent's. He was on the phone with the front desk still so I picked up his pants. Yep, they were ringing. I fished through his pockets and pulled out his cell. I waved it around so he could see it was his and he waved his hand at me. Fine. I'll answer it.

"Trent's phone." I said making that horrible ring tone stop. Who actually listened to the Beach Boys besides Jenks?

"Is Trenton available?" A male voice asked.

"Not at the moment, maybe I can help you with something. I'm Rachel Morgan." I said watching Trent as he hung up with the front desk.

"Ah, Ms. Morgan. Yes I do believe you can help me. This is Ellasbeth's father. I want to hire you to put an end to her, lets say fit." He said.

I knew I had a look of shock on my face and Trent was a mirror image of me. "What exactly do you mean by put an end to?" I knew Trent would be able to hear both sides of the conversation even from where he was sitting.

"Whatever it takes Ms. Morgan. I would prefer that you not use lethal force unless necessary. I want to end the embarrassment that she is causing her family. I've had enough of her childish actions and they need to stop." Mr. Withon explained.

"I don't use lethal force Mr. Withon." I answered.

"I will give you ten thousand dollars to stop her." He countered.

"Done." I said. I was going to stop her either way, might as well get a paycheck out of it.

"Please call me when the situation has been dealt with." He ended the call.

I looked over at Trent and he had a glazed over look to his eyes. I knew he was breathing I could see his chest rising and falling. I went over to the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. Yeah it probably would cost ten dollars but that was pennies to Trent. I cracked open the bottle and handed it to him. He took it putting it to his mouth and downing half of it. Okay.

"Trent-" I started and was interrupted by a knock at the door at the front door. I sighed and moved through the rooms to get the door thankful that they were fast with my shirt. Just as I was about to turn the knob I felt someone tap a line. I turned to look at Trent.

"No! Don't open it!" Trent jumped off the bed and in the process put his pants back on running towards the front.

"You felt it?" I whispered.

"Yeah. Who ever that is it's not the front desk." Trent whispered so quietly in my ear I almost missed it.

"Okay. So can I open the door now and kick some ass so when the front desk does send someone up I can have a shirt?" I whispered back.

Trent smirked. "Have at it, but remember you're about to kick ass in a sheet."

"Damn it back to the turn!" I said loudly. "Give me your shirt."

Trent picked up his shirt from the floor. It was missing all of the buttons but at least I could cover up some. He handed it to me along with the belt from his pants. I liked the way he thought. I tapped a line and slipped my panties on and Trent's shirt with the belt to secure it shut and I grabbed the door knob and turned with Trent at my back.

-x-x-x-

Trent POV

Rachel didn't look prepared to do anything except maybe take a shower but I knew she could handle whatever was behind that door. As she turned the knob to open it I tapped a line not knowing what was waiting for us. She got it open enough for us to see it was one of the twins from before! I wasn't going back to the ever after.

The elf rushed in reaching for Rachel. She quickly ducked kicking out her leg and tripping him. He stumbled in falling onto his stomach but quickly turned throwing yellow goo her direction. She was already moving to take cover behind the furniture. I had fallen into a fighting stance not entirely sure what I should be doing. Kicking ass was Rachel's thing, not mine.

"Get your elf ass out of the way!" Rachel yelled throwing unfocused energy in the elf's general direction. That got me out of trance and I turned to the twin.

"_Afflictio!_" I flung out my hand towards the elf before he had a chance to react. He dropped to the floor making oddly satisfying gurgling noises.

"Trent! What did you just do! Stupid elf." Rachel ranted turning on me.

"I was stopping him from doing anything especially taking me back to the ever after." I met her anger with my own.

"Where's the other one Trent? Why couldn't you just get him to talk? Now he's dying on the floor when we have somebody from the front desk coming up!" Rachel yelled getting in my face.

I took a deep breath trying to calm myself. I knew it was just some sort of spell that the twins had that affected Rachel and I but right now I wanted to throttle the woman. She was right though. Where was the other twin?

"Stop having kittens. It's the spell again. Calm down." I said trying not to say all of the things that were currently crossing my mind.

"It's not a spell. You're just a stupid business man that doesn't think before he reacts!" Rachel wasn't going to back down. I could tell by the determined look in her eye. This was going to be very unpleasant.

She had her back to the front door and I had my back to the rest of the suite. One of the elf twins was still making noises on the floor and we were going to have to do something about that. Rachel's eyes suddenly got huge and I knew there was someone behind me. Even if I hadn't felt the air pressure shift her expression was the best indication of what was coming. Before I could turn Rachel reacted.

"_Silens!_"She said throwing an incredible amount of energy out of her hand towards the person behind me. I felt the line dip in strength as her charm hit and the person thumped to the ground. That was going to hurt. I forgot how much power Rachel really had and I turned to her in admiration.

Just as suddenly my anger at her had disappeared. Stupid elves was right. Sometimes I hated how some of our magic worked. I turned to see it was the other twin. We knew where he was now. I wasn't sure what we should do with them.

"Why didn't he go down with the first one like before?" Rachel asked with genuine confusion on her face.

"I don't have a clue but let's get that one moved." I pointed at the elf on the floor barely hanging on to consciousness. Maybe my charms were getting stronger because I hadn't thought I put that much energy behind it.

I helped Rachel pull him, dumping him down in the sitting area by the couch. The other elf was already in that general area. This was not good. We had two elves that we were going to have to dispose of. Rachel was not going to like this. She's going to come up with some plan that will spare their lives and I'll go along with it not wanting her to ever look at me like the bad guy again. If it came down to them needing to die to ensure our safety I would do it without a thought no matter how mad Rachel would be. I would risk anything for that woman.

I couldn't think of what we were going to do and all I could do was stare down at the twin elves. I felt Rachel's eyes on me and I looked up taking in the attractive mess that was Rachel. I smiled. She was beautiful even as she was half dressed and her hair was going in every direction. I liked that she was standing there in my shirt.

"What?" She asked becoming self conscious of my attention on her.

"I was just thinking how beautiful you are." I moved to take her into my arms. She smelled like a mixture of burnt amber, strawberries, and a meadow. I sighed into her neck really liking the fact that she smelled like me.

She wrapped her arms around my waist. "You're going to have to cover yourself up or we're going to have round two elf boy."

I grinned. "I would enjoy round two but not so sure it's a good idea. You passed out like a dump truck."

"Hey!" She stepped back playfully swatting at my arm.

I chuckled. "I'll have to go a little more slowly with all the elven magic next time."

"There will be a next time?" She asked her eyes serious. She doubted that I actually had feelings for her. I didn't like seeing the doubt there.

"I hope so. I was under the impression that you were in your words 'willing to date me'. Did I not understand correctly?" I questioned letting her step further away.

"Can we talk about this later? We need to take care of the twins." She was closing herself off to me. I wasn't going to let that happen again.

"Last night wasn't a mistake Rachel." I said and picked up my phone dialing Quen, turning my back on her. The conversation wasn't over but Rachel was right, this was not the time or place for it.

Quen and I came to the same conclusion that we needed to get us all into one place. Quen would be staying with Ceri and the girls and that was a plan I approved of. I wanted enough security with them in case something came to them. I then called Ivy and Jenks and they were taking my plane out within the hour. Rachel wanted her team together and I couldn't think of a reason to say no. I had some kind of understanding with Ivy and Jenks that I was a part of Rachel's life they couldn't just scare away.

Rachel had hit both of the elves with a sleepy time charm to make sure they weren't going anywhere. I wasn't opposed to the idea but I was worried if hitting them with too many spells would cause them to not wake up. The front desk had come and gone bringing a shirt for Rachel and with the generous tip I had given the bell hop he didn't even question why there were unconscious twins on the floor. David still hadn't gotten up but it took a lot out of a person being possessed and he needed to sleep it off.

"What shall we do to pass the time Ms. Morgan?" I asked with a big grin on my face.

"Round two."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**Trent Pov**

Rachel put her hand on my chest pushing me back toward the room while slowly removing the belt she had wrapped around my shirt keeping her clothed. I sucked in my breath as she dropped the shirt to the floor. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. I had never been able to. I waited until she was within arms reach and ripped her panties off. I heard a small sound of approval come from her. Her little noises driving me on, I lifted her as she wrapped her legs around me. I still had my pants on but that wouldn't last much longer.

She ran her mouth down my neck, my jaw, my chest, anywhere she could reach I felt her. My breath was coming faster and faster. I was already hard and ready but I needed to go slower with her. She passed out too quickly yesterday and I didn't want that to happen again. I let her keep having her way with me until she nipped gently at my neck. The sensation of her teeth was the most arousing thing she had done yet. I moaned as she did it all the way up to my ear and then I lost control.

I slammed her against the wall and her mouth lost contact with my skin for a moment before she returned with a new force. I could swear she was trying to break my skin but it was doing anything but causing pain. I managed to turn her head to bring her mouth to mine. I ran my tongue across her lips, gently taking her bottom lip with my teeth. She was running her hands down my back leaving a trail of fire everywhere she touched. She moaned and I slid my tongue in finding hers eagerly awaiting.

I was at a loss for words or thoughts when Rachel and I were together like this. It was like fire and gasoline. She began to grind against me as I kept her mouth busy with my own. I knew I wouldn't be able to deny her much longer, I wanted it as bad as she did. I moved my hands to her ass spinning her at the same time and moving to the bed as fast as I could. I set her down while I stayed standing and finally broke from that kiss gasping for breath.

"Trent, my whole body is.."she whispered.

"Ssshh. I know." I pushed her shoulder easing her down. I knew what she was feeling because I was feeling the same. I had only heard about it happening like this, never been able to experience being so in sync with a woman that they could feel the tingles coming from me. I hadn't even used any magic and she was feeling the effects. Being an elf had its good points.

As she laid back I gently spread her legs. I positioned myself between them and started kissing, licking, and sucking at her neck. I worked my way down stopping at her shoulders, her breasts, her stomach all the way down to her knees carefully avoiding her sensitive areas. I was saving those for last. I worked my way back up finally stopping at her mouth.

"Trent, I need. Please." Rachel gasped.

I eased my way back down to the floor. I undid my pants and removed them so quickly I doubt Rachel had seen. I moved back between her legs kissing and sucking her thighs as I moved closer. I tapped a line and made sure I was taking in the lowest amount of energy that I could. "_Dilato" _I whispered.

"Oh my God! Trent!" Rachel was practically yelling. I was careful not to touch her until she could get the increase at the new sensations and tingling under control. The more worked up she was the more it back-lashed into me. Once I felt it even out a bit I returned my mouth to her thighs. Her moans and purrs kept me going til I got to her clit. I swirled my tongue around it and Rachel screamed. I gave her a second before I continued.

"Trent, please. Trent I need you inside." she sounded like she was on the verge of tears. I kissed all the way up to her mouth and when her tongue met mine I almost came at the force of the tingle she had pushed into me. God this woman would be the death of me. As I was trying to catch my breath I felt Rachel's hand run down my body and not stop til she found exactly what she wanted. She held me in her hand and I could do nothing. I didn't want to end this too soon.

Before I could regain control of the situation she had me on my back. She straddled me and agonizingly slowly she slid herself around me. She was so warm and tight that I couldn't control my reaction and I groaned with pleasure as I pushed all of the tingles into Rachel. She seemed to be ready for it this time and threw her head back as she began to find a steady rhythm. I put my hands around her waist and was going to pull the tingles back but Rachel beat me to it. She pushed them into me slowly letting them fill my chi and spill over to coat my whole body. No one had ever done that before. I gasped and held her still.

I thought Rachel would have a problem with sex mixed with elven magic but I forgot what a quick learner she was. Turns out I may be the one that has a problem. I couldn't think, all I could do is feel. When I felt like I had control again I moved my hands up to Rachel's neck and hair and brought her face down to mine. I wanted to feel her tongue against mine. She began to move again as my mouth met hers and we both groaned as the energy equaled out between us. I didn't know how much longer I could take this. I felt her start to pull the tingles back out of me and I wrapped my fingers into her hair. Once I felt like she had pulled everything from me I flipped her back onto her back.

I grasped one of her legs and positioned it on my shoulder so I could go deeper. I pulled all the tingles from her with such force she screamed. I pushed them back in just as quickly and repeated it over and over again.

"Trent now!" Rachel yelled.

I pushed them into Rachel as I increased my hold on the line and she screamed in pleasure. When she came she sent all of the tingles back into me and I came with her. I dropped down not able to hold myself up any longer.

"Wow." Rachel whispered.

"I think that is the best way to describe it." I positioned myself so I wasn't directly on top of Rachel but she wasn't quite ready to let me go yet.

"Sorry." She said looking down and turning red.

"I will take it as a compliment." I joked. She had a confused look on her face. "I hear it takes longer if it's better."

"Oh." Rachel turned a deeper shade of red. "Well you know you're good at everything you do Trent."

I frowned. I didn't want her to feel like this would have been amazing without her. "Rachel, do you realize you are the most arousing woman ever?"

I didn't think Rachel could get anymore red but somehow she managed. "I think I need a shower." She grinned.

"I can help with that." Now that I was able to move I picked her up in my arms and headed to the bathroom.

-X-X-X-

**Rachel Pov**

What only felt like several hours had passed but in reality it was closer to ten hours. Trent definitely used his time wisely. I was sure I was going to be walking funny. Ivy and Jenks had gotten a cab and were on their way to our hotel. I knew I hadn't been thinking clearly when it came to Trent. I shouldn't have had sex with him when everything was going on yet I couldn't seem to help myself. Now that I knew what the little cookie maker could do I couldn't get enough.

David was finally up and had went out to shop for some clothes, not yet ready to make that trip back to Cincinnati. I felt really bad seeing his face when he had finally come out of his room knowing that he could smell what Trent and I had done to keep busy. He didn't question us about the elves on the floor, only told us where he was going in case he didn't make it back. I appreciated that. I wasn't sure if I was ready to explain myself.

I had run around opening all the windows and lighting candles and it was already getting chilly. I didn't want to hear it from Ivy or Jenks but I had a feeling they were going to know anyways. I felt wonderful. Like I had the best rest I had ever had, even being in the middle of this whole mess that was my life lately. Trent had been quiet and I figured he picked up on me being anxious and wasn't going to push trying to get me to talk. I was happy that he knew me well enough to just keep his mouth shut.

It felt like minutes had turned into hours when I finally heard the hum of pixy wings. Finally! Ivy and Jenks burst through the door not even bothering to knock. I was sitting on the couch closest to the twins and Trent was sitting at a chair by the massive fireplace. I hadn't even known he had gotten a fire going but I hoped it would help with the mingling of our scents. I couldn't see him without turning myself around but I knew he was there watching Ivy's eyes dart around the room, or maybe she was just following Jenks. He was swearing about the air pressure and that if it wasn't for the honey he would be barfing his brains out right now. I smiled at how dramatic he was.

Ivy looked at me her eyes going full black. Shit. She knew. Several moments passed as she gained control again and some brown had returned. She said nothing as she stomped her way to the kitchen. Swell. She was mad. Jenks on the other hand couldn't resist.

"Holy crap Rache? What did you and the greenie weenie do?" Jenks flew towards one of the scented candles that was lit. "Elf and demon. Good God it stinks in here."

"Excuse me." Trent abruptly stood and left the room, retreating to the splintered damaged door of the room we had been using.

Ivy saw the door and turned her gaze on me. Jenks wasn't much better.

"What were you thinking? With all that is going on you decide this is the perfect opportunity to have sex with Trent?" Ivy said her motions increasingly fast as she started to vamp out.

"Ivy." I squeaked.

"She's right Rache. What the hell were you thinking? You should be after Ellasbeth not boinking her baby daddy." Jenks snickered.

"I don't know what I was thinking. It just happened! Sometimes that's the way things need to go!" I said loudly looking down at my hands.

"You really need to think about what you're doing with him. He's not just another guy that you can easily drop if it doesn't work out. He's Trent Kalamack. You're not messing with a thief, or ghost, or witch. Not to mention he still runs over half of Cincinnati." Ivy lectured.

"I know!" I exclaimed. "I like him Ivy. I can't help the way I feel. He's not that bad. He cares about me."

"For now. Wait until you aren't useful to him anymore." Ivy said cracking open a bottle of water from the mini fridge.

"That's enough. I don't need this crap from you of all people. I'm a big girl. I can have sex with anyone I want." I snapped. I wasn't going to sit here and listen to this, worst of all Trent being able to hear it all from the other room.

Slightly shocked Ivy set the bottle down. "I know you can. I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"She's not doing too bad. She has known him for a few years and she just now humped him." Jenks joked.

"Shut up Jenks." Ivy and I said together.

"Well fine. Get bent. Both of you." Jenks said, not really looking too serious. He flew over to the broken door of mine and Trent's room and went under and in.

"Oh great. That's all I need is the two of them talking." I threw my hands up in the air.

Ivy smiled. "I'm sorry I kind of lost it for a second. Really though, you need to keep on task here until we're done."

"I know. I'm glad you guys are here." I joined her in the kitchen searching out some coffee.

-x-x-x-

We had gotten David onto one of Trent's planes to head back home. The ladies would be picking him up from the airport. I was grateful for their help because I didn't want him to be alone. Ivy and I were seeing eye to eye that I couldn't let my hormones get the best of me and Jenks and Trent were sharing another private conversation that even Ivy couldn't hear. We were prepped and ready to deal with the twins. I had my splat gun at my back and Ivy and Trent by my side. Jenks was hovering just overhead ready to either pix the elves or give them a lobotomy.

"Ready?" Ivy asked. We shook our heads and she heaved the huge bucket of salt water over the elves. As soon as they started to wake I tapped a line and put a circle up around them. I wasn't going to have them jump out of here without giving me some information. Hell I wasn't going to let them go until I got to Ellasbeth but I hadn't told anyone that yet.

"So boys, ready to talk?" I asked walking around the outside of my circle. I could feel the hum of the energy coming off. What was up with the lines? Why did everything feel so much more potent and hot today? I glanced at Trent wondering if he could feel it also. I imagine he could by the look on his face when he met my eyes. Ivy had noticed something had passed between Trent and I and she pursed her lips at being left out of the exchange.

"It's the lines." I told her, not wanting to keep pushing her today. She nodded not really understanding but it seemed to pacify her.

One of the twins opened his mouth to say something when the other threw his arm out hitting him dead in the center of his throat causing him to gag. Huh. I wonder if they were under orders to not talk if caught.

"Trent, feel like doing an enthrallment spell?" I raised my eyebrows to him.

He looked taken aback by my asking him to use a black spell but he stepped forward. "Put a circle around me and drop your inner one."

I did as he asked and now he was in a circle with the elves and in an instant he tapped a line and they were in a circle he created, separated from him. At least he had learned enough to know to keep the big bad uglies in a circle.

I felt the brush of wild magic across the inside of my circle as Trent said "_Volo te hoc facere_!" I had felt Trent do this spell before but this one felt much stronger as it pressed on my circle. I wish I knew why the lines felt so weird today. Trent felt the power of it too and took a step back almost bumping my circle.

"Tell us why you are here." Trent said to the twins.

Both twins began talking at once, in elvish.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ivy said showing her irritation with her choice of words.

Trent held up his hand to quiet us seeing as he was the only one to speak elvish fluently and they were both talking at once. Somewhere in the conversation I heard Ellasbeth's name and Nick? Like the rat, low life, ex-boyfriend of mine Nick? Was Nick helping Ellasbeth? Is that why she seemed to know what she was doing when she hadn't shown any magical skill in the past? Oh this is going to be good. I waited for Trent to finish hearing the elves out before he began to speak back in elven. I hadn't realized how sexy the man was when he was holding a line and talking in elven at the same time. Damn. If Ivy and Jenks weren't here I would have knocked the twins out with a sleepy time charm just to have round three.

Ivy turned to me obviously feeling the emotion I was putting out and I turned red, embarrassed that she knew I was thinking about having sex with Trent again. What was wrong with me? It was then that I realized Jenks wasn't here. Where did he go? I looked around and mouthed Jenks to Ivy. She shook her head, her eyes getting bigger as she realized the same thing. I wanted to interrupt Trent but I needed to know what those elves knew and they were still talking. I felt the wild magic in my circle slowly dissipate. His charm was breaking and then the elves wouldn't talk without another charm.

I dropped my circle when the elves became quiet giving Trent a chance to come out. He walked over to me and I thought he was going to hug me. My eyes got wide not wanting the physical contact from him right now. At the last second he surprised me moving with his elven speed and grabbing my splat gun out of the back of my pants. He dropped his circle and plugged both elves amazingly fast. Damn he was a good shot. I'm pretty sure the only reason I'm alive right now is because when he tried to shoot me his hand was broken.

"You aren't going to like this." He said handing me my splat gun back.

"It's going to have to wait. Jenks is missing." I felt the tears start to sting my eyes.

"What? How? He was just right here? Where did he go?" Trent was as confused as Ivy and I.

-x-x-x-

We had searched all the rooms at the hotel and their was no sign of Jenks. I kept hoping that he was going to pop out of cabinet and scare the crap out of me but it didn't happen. I was worried that he had heard something and went to check it out getting caught in the process. That wasn't like him but we weren't even totally sure what we were up against. I had my head pressed on the kitchen counter trying to keep myself calm. Trent and Ivy had been arguing for over ten minutes now and I was really wondering where Trent had learned to stand up to her when she started to vamp out.

"Could you both just shut up for five minutes!" I exclaimed into the counter. "We have to find Jenks and it's not going to happening with you bickering!"

They fell silent and I could finally feel myself think. We had the twins in a circle so they couldn't have taken him. He was there when I put up my circle. Was he there when I asked Trent to do the charm? I don't think he was. Did I see him fly away? I closed my eyes harder rubbing my head willing myself to remember. It happened right in front of me, how could I not know?

Frustrated I whispered "_Memor._" Why it had come out in Latin I wasn't sure but I felt the wild magic sweep across and into my aura.

"Rachel?" Trent turned feeling it also.

"Crap on toast." I said as I felt it hit me. My eyes glazed over and I felt all my senses intensify. I was reliving the memory of setting the circle, seeing a fly on the wall, hearing the traffic twelve floors below, and Trent smelling of sour wine. "Oh my God." I let the memory take hold and I saw Jenks flying above the circle. He was watching everything and listening closely. I heard it at the same time his wings changed in pitch. It was a voice coming from the hall, calling me. It kept saying Rachel over and over again. How could Ivy or Trent not have heard it? I was hearing it plain as day right now. Jenks looked at all of us seeing how distracted we were by the twins and took it upon himself to check it out. I saw him fly towards the front door but the was the last I saw of him. The voice stopped and Jenks was gone. Someone had taken him.

I shook my head trying to snap out of the memory. It was fading slowly and I started to feel normal again. I had braced myself against the counter with Ivy and Trent keeping their distance.

"Why did you use wild magic?" Trent asked coming closer when he felt the last of it fade away.

"I don't know. I didn't mean to. I just wanted to remember." I met his eyes not understanding the worried look about them.

"You basically did a Pandora charm but not the typical way. I can't even do it the way you did Rachel." Trent went over and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Swell." I muttered. I find out something new about myself everyday.

"What did you see?" Ivy asked.

"Jenks heard something. He went to check it out and didn't come back. Someone was calling my name from the hall." I whispered. "I heard it myself."

"I know. They said that Ellasbeth had used help from a wizard." Trent gestured to the elves on the floor. "They said it was Nick but I don't know if I believe that she had given them his real name. It is possible she just wants to get you more angry and frustrated so that you aren't thinking clearly."

"Taking one of my partners makes me not think clearly! I need my back up Trent. I can't live with myself if anything happens to him." I was letting a slip of my anger through. I had tried to reel it in for Ivy's sake but I couldn't deal with anymore surprises. Ellasbeth had carefully planned this, knowing how to hit me hard. She wouldn't know how much Jenks meant to me but Nick would. "It is Nick. I have no doubt."

"I think it was crap for brains too." Ivy moved to get herself a cup of coffee keeping her distance from Trent. "He knows how to hit you where it hurts and that losing Jenks would shake you up."

"I'm going to kill him Ivy. If I ever get my hands on him I'm going to strangle him." I threatened.

"Not if I find him first." Trent promised. I knew Trent wouldn't have a second thought about taking Nick out. They had their own can of worms to deal with.

"So how do we find Jenks?" Ivy asked her eyes looking glossy. I think she was on the verge of crying. Jenks meant as much to her as he did to me.

"I don't know." Depressed I took the cup of coffee Ivy extended to me.

"We take Ellasbeth out." Trent said.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Ivy and I had made a run to the store to get some spelling supplies. Trent stayed back hoping Jenks would show up but I knew it was an excuse for him to do some spelling of his own. I didn't care what he did as long as we found Jenks alive. The temperature wasn't too cold for pixies yet but we were so far from home and the rules for pixies were different on the west coast than in Cincinnati. We had learned that the hard way when Jenks had been kidnapped by a pixy clan for wearing red.

We were on our third charm shop trying to find ginger root. They no longer sold it in traditional grocery stores after the turn, humans learning that witches used it in spells. This shop smelled better than the last two. I think the supplies in here were fresher and the witch behind the counter had a very strong redwood smell coming from her. She smiled asking if we needed help with anything. We declined and ventured in to hopefully find the ginger.

"Oh thank God." I said grabbing a big chunk of the root.

"That's it?" Ivy looked at it not seeing why it was such a big deal.

"Yup." I walked up to the counter to pay when the clerk tilted her head and looked at me differently. I think she finally recognized who I was.

"You're Rachel Morgan?" She asked taking the ginger and putting it into a paper bag.

"Yep, that's me." I said sighing hoping she wasn't going to fight me about selling me the ginger. I was no longer shunned but people were still just as scared of a day walking demon.

"There was a woman and a man in here looking for you earlier. They had something in a box that was spouting a lot of profanity." She said with serious eyes.

"That's Jenks!" I practically jumped over the counter. "Where are they? Where did they go?"

The clerk jumped back a step as Ivy approached with eyes black as night. "Where are they?" Her tone smooth and sultry. Swell. She vamped out.

I stood my ground ignoring Ivy which seemed to help the clerk calm down. "Was it a blonde woman?" I took a step to the side somewhat blocking Ivy's view of the clerk. I needed her to come down and maybe that would help.

"Uh, yes." The woman was scared but I could tell she just wanted to help. "She left a note for you. The man had said you would be here today. I didn't believe it until I saw you walk in that door." She reached under the counter and pulled out a sealed envelope. It had my name printed on the front in elegant script. I grabbed my keys from my bag and set them next to the envelope, the amulets staying a nice solid green. So it wasn't spelled.

"Thank you." I said to the woman shoving it into my bag. I set a twenty on the counter for the ginger. "Keep the change. Ivy lets go."

The woman stared at me in awe as I pushed an angry vamp towards the door. Yeah, I'm bad. Ivy didn't scare me nearly as much as the dead ones did.

"Open it Rachel." Ivy said the moment we were out the door, the cooler air outside helping bring her down. I nodded, pulling the envelope out and tearing it open. Inside was a hand written note addressed to me but as I pulled the second page out it was addressed to Trent. Shit. I read mine and then handed it to Ivy. It didn't say much that I didn't already know. Basically telling me to stay away from Trent, that I ruined Ellasbeth's life and that I was going to pay. Trent's letter was much more detailed. Ellasbeth wanted him back? She realized the mistake she had made treating him the way she had and that she could learn to love him? Who says that? She said she would make me pay if he didn't stay away from me and that she had insurance to do it. She had Jenks. I handed Trent's letter to Ivy. She crumpled it in her hand after reading it.

"Ivy, that wasn't mine." I took it back trying to straighten it out so Trent could read it. "We need to get back." Ivy nodded her agreement as we grabbed a cab back to the hotel.

-x-x-x-

"And the clerk just handed these over to you?" Trent questioned as he let the letters drop to the counter.

"Yes." I said as I smashed more ginger root against the cutting board. I had to make due with what spelling supplies I had.

"Something doesn't feel right about this." Trent said running his hand through his hair.

"I agree." I grabbed one of the copper pots Trent had gotten from the hotel restaurant. Like they would tell Trent Kalamack he couldn't have their pots? "I'm almost done with the finding spell and then we can go to work. I even have a focusing object now that I have the letters. Easy as pie."

"I don't know Rachel. I think we should back off. Just until we know who we're dealing with. What if another demon is helping Ellasbeth?" Trent was scared. I could see it in his eyes.

"No demon is going to go against me except maybe Newt and it's not her." Grabbing all of the spell ingredients I threw them into the pot together. "This is not some demonic power play." He nodded not fully agreeing with my assessment of the demon portion. I sighed. "I'm the only female demon besides Newt. If anything those bastards would protect me. I'm their only chance at continuing on the species. That, and I'm sure they don't know about the ever after shrinking yet."

"You're right." Trent agreed. I heard Ivy huff from the couch but she kept her distance when I was spelling and angry and today I was both. I reached into my bag for a finger stick to finish the spell. I heard the splat of the three drops of my blood hitting and the smell of burnt amber rose around me. I knew Trent and Ivy could smell it but they said nothing.

"It's ready." Ivy joined us in the kitchen. I hadn't told them it wasn't actually a finding spell but a curse. I wanted to be sure I got Ellasbeth and the smut was worth it to get Jenks back. I tapped a line and I felt Trent step back.

"What are you doing?" He asked then he realized it was a curse.

"_Evulgo_." I whispered feeling the curse register. "I take this." The smut didn't hurt at all as I felt it wash over me tarnishing my aura further. I hadn't done this particular curse before so I wasn't entirely sure how it would work. I felt a quiver start in my middle like I was being summoned. Shit. That wasn't what I was expecting. I was going to be pulled to where Ellasbeth was.

Ivy's eyes widened in alarm realizing it wasn't going how I had planned. I felt the line start to pull me in and I grabbed Trent's hand at the last second praying that it was working right and he was coming with me.

-x-x-x-

I was being pulled through the lines but I didn't expect it feel so familiar. I couldn't feel Trent's hand in mine but I could feel his thoughts and he was enjoying this? I was surprised that this seemed like fun to him but then again it was a rush to kick some ass. The lines were warmer and felt like home. It was home. We dropped out of the line in Trent's office?

"What the hell?" I asked as Trent found his feet beside me.

He immediately rushed forward hitting the intercom on his desk. Quen questioned more than answered "Sa'han?"

"My office now Quen!" Trent was panicking. This wasn't good. Ivy was in Seattle, Jenks was missing, and my spell took me to Trent's place with the girls. I was about to panic. Not even a minute passed and Quen burst in the office with two security men trailing behind him.

"Sa'han what are you doing here? I thought you were in Seattle?" Quen took a protective stance next to Trent. I blew out my breath trying to disguise my snort. Quen's eyes moved to me but he remained silent waiting for Trent to answer.

"Rachel's curse brought us to Ellasbeth and we just dropped in the office. She's here. Get us on lock down. No one in or out. Understand?" Trent was firm and I understood what he was getting at without saying it. Ellasbeth could be using a doppelganger charm. Quen nodded and directed the security guys and continued on down the hall. Trent picked up his desk phone and was put through an inter-building line to Ceri. He filled her in and she said she would take the girls to their safe place. I breathed a sigh of relief that they would at least be safe.

"Now we just have to find her." I said as Trent hung up the phone. I followed him out of the office not really sure where he was heading. We stopped at Sara Jane's desk for Trent to get her up to date on the lock down and I felt a twinge on my awareness. Sara Jane stared at me with such hatred that I don't know how Trent didn't notice. I didn't have anything on me to be able to see through spells but I wondered if a curse that Al had recently taught me would work. He said the general idea was to be able to see someone as they truly are, whatever that meant.

I tapped the line and whispered "_Detegat ueritatem persona_."

"Rachel what are you doing?" Trent turned to me breaking his attention away from Sara Jane.

I felt the energy burst out of me and I fell onto my ass. "Ouch. I take this." I quickly accepted the smut and got up in time to see the curse hit everyone in the room taking them all down. "Whoops." Then it was if everyone was different. I was able to clearly see every single person's aura as if using my second sight. Not only that but I could hear their thoughts? Oh this was freaky. I saw Trent get up and he didn't speak but I heard him saying '_Damn she can sure pack a punch._'

Sara Jane got up off the floor and tried to sit in her chair gracefully but not able to pull it off since her skirt was twisted and her hair was in disarray. She was pissed to say the least, I heard it. '_Damn whore. What does he see in her?_'

I turned to one of the security guards near the front doors picking himself off the floor. He didn't seem bothered by the event and that caught my attention. It was hard to focus in on his thoughts almost sounding as if two thought patterns were coming from the same person. I stopped trying to listen just looking at him and his aura was strange. It was a nice blue color but it had shadowing that I had never seen. Almost like another aura coated his.

"Shit! Trent a Druchii, it's in him. I pointed to the man." I grabbed my splat gun from my back knowing he was going to make a run for it. Not this time. As he went for the doors that he had no hope of getting through I plugged him in his back from across the room.

"How did she know?" Sara Jane whispered thinking only Trent would have been able to hear her, not knowing I could hear her question before she even asked it.

"Come on Trent, I'm on a roll. I can find her, easy." I grabbed his arm and we started walking through the corridors that led to the labs. I had a feeling she would be in that area, thinking maybe this had been a play to get a sample not really separate Trent and I.

'_God please don't walk in front of me. You're ass is so distracting.'_ Trent thought.

"I heard that. Then you lead the way." I smirked at his open mouthed expression.

"The curse?" Trent guessed.

"Let's move. I don't know how long this will last." I pushed Trent forward.

We made our way through all of the labs and offices down below and I found nothing. The curse was still working and I could still hear everyone's thoughts. It was giving me a headache so I just concentrated on Trent's. At least he was making an effort to keep his mind clear. He was worried about the girls. I kept thinking back to the twinge I had felt near Sara Jane. Something wasn't right.

"I want to talk to Sara Jane." I decided.

"Okay?" Trent said leading the way back to the main entrance. He reached back and grabbed my hand and it seemed to relax him. I smiled liking that I could make him feel that way. That was a new feeling for us. I was always good at pushing his buttons but I could make him feel good too.

As we approached the front desk Sara Jane swore, at least in her head.

'_The bitch is back. Yay. And he's touching her? How dare she! The whore is going to pay._' Sara Jane had that same look of hatred again. Her aura wasn't shadowed by another so I knew there wasn't a Druchii in her.

"I don't think that's Sara Jane." I whispered in Trent's ear brushing my lips against it. That definitely got the reaction I was looking for from her.

'_Fucking whore! Trenton was mine!_' Sara Jane plastered a fake smile on her face.

I smiled back letting Trent's hand slip from mine. "Follow my lead." I whispered to him. I moved all the way up to the desk with Trent by my side. "Does she have that contract?" I asked Trent.

He looked confused for a second and quickly recovered. "Sara Jane I need the contract for the hospital wing remodel."

"Mr. Kalamack, I do believe you have it." Sara Jane answered. In her thoughts she was screaming. She had no idea what contract he was talking about. That was enough for me to believe that whoever this person was she wasn't Sara Jane even if she looked like her.

I reached over the desk and grabbed her by her hair slamming her head into the desk. She was out.

"Rachel please explain why you just knocked out my secretary?" Trent said still confused.

"That's not Sara Jane. She's using a doppelganger charm. I think that's Ellasbeth." I explained plopping my butt on the end of the desk, not caring that the woman was slowly slipping to the floor.

"Are you absolutely sure that isn't Sara Jane?" Trent studied me for a moment. "Yes. You are." He pushed the intercom button on the phone and requested Quen to return to the lobby.

Quen rushed back with several security guards. Two went to attend to the man knocked out from my charm by the door and the others stayed with Quen at Sara Jane's desk. We quickly filled Quen in watching his eyes get bigger and bigger with each sentence. When I told him Sara Jane wasn't really Sara Jane he looked worried.

"If this isn't Sara Jane then where is she?" Quen asked with genuine concern.

"And where's Jenks?" I asked staring at the woman now slumped on the floor pretending to be Sara Jane.

"Lets get everyone gathered where we have some privacy. Leave us on lock down. Check identification and use spell checkers before anyone can enter or leave please." Trent ordered and took my hand bringing me back towards the private areas of his buildings. Quen and the security followed with fake Sara Jane and the security officer from the door. I thought we were heading to Trent's living area when we stopped in front of a wall and Trent ran his hand across a keypad that seemed to appear out of nowhere. He had a secret door? He punched in the code and the wall opened into a staircase that led down. I wasn't scared but I was hesitant. Trent still had plenty of secrets and I was trusting him. I wondered if I was making another mistake.

My curse was still in full swing and I could hear everyone's thoughts and I knew I had nothing to be afraid of. I only wondered if this was the room he held Nick in. Is this where he had killed Brett? I didn't know if I could go down those stairs. Quen and security moved forward and down leaving Trent and I standing in front of the door.

A million thoughts were going through Trent's head and I felt like I was invading his privacy. "It's not what you think. I don't murder people down here Rachel. Please, trust me."

I gulped and followed him down.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

This place wasn't that bad. It was just like any living room except this one was three stories underground, lined in salt and silver, and was on holy ground? What was his dad wanting to hide from when he built this place? It was cozy and thankfully warm. Security had left Trent, Quen, and I alone with the knocked out guard and Sara Jane. We removed the Druchii without really even trying. It was eager to escape once we poured salt water on him. I was hoping to have a talk with it but it got away before I could circle it. I was angry that I still had no idea where Jenks was.

Ivy had called me and she was pretty pissed that I left her in Seattle. She was catching one of Trent's planes now and was going to meet us at the church. I was fairly certain we had Ellasbeth, I just needed to break her charm. Quen was hesitant about me getting too close, more afraid for her than me. I wasn't going to kill her. I had finally found a way to break the curse I had performed enjoying only hearing my own thoughts. I wanted this whole mess to be over so I could go sleep in my own bed for the next fourteen hours.

"Can I just break the charm?" I asked them. Not waiting for a response I moved forward and yanked the amulet from her neck. Instantly she turned into Ellasbeth. I knew I was right. We couldn't just throw salt water on her to wake her up since I had knocked her out. I was wondering what was taking her so long to wake up though. I didn't hit her head that hard. Maybe that was the first time the pretty little princess took a hit. I pulled a hair from her head and she still didn't budge. Might as well do the curse and get it over with. I hated that performing curses was coming so easily to me but hey I was a demon so I needed to get use to it.

I ran the strand of Ellasbeth's hair through my hand. I was glad that I had thought ahead to memorize the curse so I didn't have to pull out a sheet of paper in front of Trent and Quen. What kind of a demon needs notes to do curses. I tapped the line and snapped up a circle around Ellasbeth and myself but carefully leaving Quen and Trent out. I didn't want anyone else in this circle just in case something went wrong. They stood motionless watching as I made my way over to Ellasbeth laying a hand on her head. I had her hair but lets just be sure this curse gets to where I intend it to.

"_Hanc sume veneficus faciendam solum bonum._" I felt a huge pull on the line as it rippled through me into Ellasbeth. I could handle it but Ellasbeth woke screaming. She couldn't pull away or even move for the matter. All she could do was scream as the curse burned through her bringing the power of the line. I gritted my teeth as it slowly came back to me. "I take this. I take it." Just that simple and it was done. I dropped my circle.

Ellasbeth laid panting on the floor curled into a ball. "What did you do to me you demon whore?"

"Cursed you." I said simply.

Trent and Quen still kept their distance completely silent. They both looked angry but it wasn't towards me, it was towards Ellasbeth.

"Why did you do this?" Trent asked breaking his silence.

"I wanted you to give us another chance." She cried into the floor. "I could learn to love you." She sniffled and seemed to regain some of her composure. "But your whore seemed to screw everything up. What is so damn special about her?"

"You're sure the curse took Rachel?" Quen questioned me.

"Yeah. I felt the smut. It worked." I said catching Trent's eye. He had a look of amusement in his eyes which only confused me.

"Ellasbeth this would have never worked. I don't love you. I deserve a chance at this." Trent gestured towards me.

"We have a daughter." She tried that angle.

"Yes. I got her fair and square. We had an agreement and I followed it. You need to leave." Trent was harsh.

"No!" I yelled. "Where's Jenks?" God help me I would kill her if anything had happened to him.

"Jenks?" She asked confused.

"The pixy." I rolled my eyes.

"Oh yes. You have a pixy. I don't have him." She said with a look of surprise that couldn't' be faked. "Sara Jane is at her home though. I have a ward on it, stronger than the one I tried to use for your whore." She spat. "I will remove it."

"I swear if you call me a whore one more time you're not going to be able to talk for a week." She was pissing me off. I heard Quen chuckle and Trent tried to hide his smile by turning his head.

"This doesn't make sense Rachel. If she doesn't have Jenks, who does?" Trent looked at me with concern.

That was when I finally lost it. Tears streaming from my face I tapped the line again. I took in so much spindling much more than I had before into my head. I felt my hair floating behind me and I knew I looked pretty freaky according to Jenks but I didn't care. Trent and Quen stepped back knowing that I was channeling an insane amount of line energy and right now my anger was directed at Ellasbeth. Watching the men step back she knew something had changed. She pushed herself back all the way to the wall in fear.

I moved forward ducking down to make myself even with Ellasbeth. "You better start talking now princess. I'm not in the mood for games." I felt a tear roll down my cheek which only seemed to scare her more.

"I don't know where your pixy is." She said again not meeting my eyes.

"Wrong answer." I said as grabbed her by her hair again. I was trying to not let energy slip into her with our contact but it was becoming increasingly hard with her not wanting to answer my question.

"I don't know!" Ellasbeth screamed when she felt some of the energy from me slip into her. Panting she looked into my eyes. "It's Nick. He has him. Nick has him."

I dropped the line letting her head hit the wall. She cried out and was ignored. "I need to find him."

-x-x-x-

"I don't know how to find the rat bastard!" I yelled at Trent.

"Rachel I understand that you're upset but stop taking it out on me." He said firmly. He was right, he didn't deserve it.

"I'm taking Ellasbeth up to get a car to the airport. Please just wait before you decide to do something." Trent asked giving me a quick kiss on the cheek, the action being seen by Ellasbeth. I had seen him do the same thing with her once but it held no emotion, no anything. I saw the pained look in his eyes worried that I was going to do something stupid. He was right of course. I had a plan already and I wasn't waiting for him to come back down to this room.

"Don't do it." Quen said as soon as we heard the door shut and Trent and Ellasbeth leave.

"Do what?" I asked innocently.

"I know you're going to jump. He told you the spell, yes?" Quen asked stepping in front of me.

"Yes. I have to find him Quen. I can do this faster without Trent." I said admitting what was bothering me. I liked working with him and he was finally able to stand on his own without needing a babysitter but he still slowed me down. Time was working against me. I had to believe that Nick wouldn't hurt Jenks especially with Jax there. I'm sure Nick just wanted to talk, probably thinking since I'm a demon he can trade some information with me for an artifact location. I wasn't that kind of demon.

Quen took in my silence and nodded in agreement. He was supposed to be looking out for Trent after all. "Be careful. I'll tell him you took a shot at me." He had a huge grin on his face.

I snorted. "Like you couldn't take me out."

"After what I just saw, I'm not sure I would want to try." Quen said. "You can hold an incredible amount of energy Rachel."

"Yeah, you should see me when I'm really pissed." I mumbled, trying to remember the words Trent had used to jump to David. I knew he thought about the person we needed to jump to. I had Nick in my mind and Jenks. What if they weren't together? Would the spell work just the same to jump me to a pixy? How did it even work to jump me to where they were? Too many questions were popping into my head and it wasn't helping. I took in a deep breath letting it out slowly trying to clear my mind. I tapped the line letting it freely flow through me. "_Adferte ad me ire per._"

I felt the swirl of wild magic take me into the line. Why didn't I feel it before? I am starting to get way to comfortable with using wild magic. I kept thinking of Jenks. Thinking for sure that I would end up in a dingy basement I was surprised to drop to the floor at Juniors?

"Hey Rache." Nick said from the table in front of me. I reached out for a line finding the university one was closest. I tapped it without a second thought and lunged for Nick. He quickly got up knocking his chair backward. I heard pixy wings but they sounded different than Jenks'.

"Ms. Morgan please hear us out. We need your help." Jax said floating inches in front of my face.

"I don't care what you need. Give me Jenks. Now." I felt my hair floating behind me and heard the coffee house quickly empty out. People in Cincinnati knew you stay clear of your resident demon if she taps a line. Even Mark left seeing that it was me.

"He's right here. He's okay. Just hear me out, okay." Nick said gingerly setting a box on the table about the size of a cat carrier. I could feel the hum coming from it knowing it had been spelled with a ley line charm keeping Jenks from escaping.

"Open it." I raised my arm and Nick quickly pushed his thumb into an indent in the box and it opened.

"I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna scramble your crap for brains! I'm gonna stick a spider nest so far up your nose you're not-" Jenks cut off mid rant seeing me standing there. I had already started letting the tears fall but I didn't let go of the line. I trusted Nick about as far as I could throw him.

"Rache." Jenks flew over landing on my shoulder. "Let up on the line a little okay. You look really freaky right now."

Cracking a smile I did as he said. My hair stopped floating but I still had a good chunk of energy spindled and ready to go. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Crap for brains wasn't going to hurt me. Just wanted to get your attention." Jenks was dusting a red color so I wasn't too concerned.

"Well you've got it crap for brains." I snapped. "What the hell do you want?"

"I have a problem. I need your help." Nick explained. "I had been helping Ellasbeth. She had some evil elves helping her. She didn't follow through with what she promised and now they're after me."

"That sounds like your problem, not mine." I wasn't going to jump at the chance to help Nick. He had sold me out too many times.

"Rachel, they're going to kill me!" Nick exclaimed.

"Not my problem Nicky. Maybe you'll finally get what you deserve." I turned to walk away and Jenks hummed his agreement.

"Rachel, please?" Nick reached for me and I spun grabbing his wrist and taking him down. My knee landed pressed up against his throat not letting a significant amount of air in.

"Ray Ray" Nick choked.

"Don't call me that. I don't need to help you. You've done nothing but sell me out." I said removing my knee from his throat letting him breath. I stood over him looking down not feeling anything. Jenks and Jax were watching from one of the overhead lights content on letting me beat the crap out of Nick.

"Rachel, they thought Ellasbeth would bring them you." Nick finally admitted why he was trying to involve me.

"What do you mean bring me to them?" I asked holding up my hand to Jenks keeping him where he was.

"Ellasbeth was supposed to keep you in the ward and the Druchii were going to come for you. You are the demons chance at carrying on their species. The Druchii don't want that to happen." Nick wouldn't look me in the eye.

Crap on toast. This just got serious.

-x-x-x-

I wasn't going to bring Nick back to Trent's especially if the Druchii were gunning for me. I went to the church. Ivy was already home but seeing as it was nine in the morning she had went to bed before I got home. I didn't want to wake her but I knew I needed to. I had to tell her about what Nick had fessed up about. I hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours and it was weighing on me.

Jenks flew out the back to check on his kids and I immediately went straight for the coffee pot. Nick followed behind not saying much. We had made some small talk about the weather and that was about it. I didn't want to talk to him. Just as I had gotten the pot started Jenks flew back in through the pixy hole in the screen.

"I'll go wake warm fuzzy." Jenks grinned as he took off down the hall towards Ivy's room. I heard several loud bangs followed by Ivy advising Jenks to get bent. She was in a great mood already. I smiled, glad to have us all back together.

"So, what do we do?" Nick asked taking my seat at the table.

"We? No, you do nothing. You take your stupid ass and crawl back under whatever rock you had been hiding under before Trent gets here otherwise he's going to kill you." I said not breaking eye contact with Nick. I wanted him to understand this wasn't a bluff.

"Trent? Why is he coming here?" Nick asked in a small voice.

"Because he's Rachel's boyfriend. You didn't know she was banging Ellasbeth's baby daddy?" He snickered loving that line a little too much.

"Boyfriend?" Nick had a look of shock on his face. God what had Ellasbeth told him to get him to help her? He had no idea about what her reasoning was to interfere with us did he?

"Uh-" I was cut off by Trent stepping into the kitchen. I hadn't even heard the front door. Guess the pixies didn't feel the need to sound the alarm for Trent anymore. Hell they could all smell him on me.

"I would say boyfriend is an appropriate term to use." Trent said risking a glance at me but never really taking his eyes off of Nick. It made me nervous, the way he was looking at Nick. Trent wasn't so innocent with the magic anymore. The man had some serious skills and wasn't scared to use them.

"Mr. Kalama-" Nick started and Trent raised a hand ending his speech. Just as suddenly Trent tapped the line in the graveyard and flung his hand toward Nick.

"_Afflictio!_" Trent was quiet but I heard it and Nick didn't even have time to move. He fell to the floor gurgling in pain. I groaned. I did not need this right now.

"Trent! Come on. We have more important stuff going on. You can kill Nick later but not in my kitchen." I sighed.

"My apologies Rachel." Trent quickly regained his composure and stepped over to Nick touching his shoulder and breaking the pain charm. Nick still didn't move but he wasn't making that noise anymore.

"The Druchii are coming for me. They think if they end me then they end the demon species." I said looking down into my coffee cup.

"Killing you won't change that I could make more of you. It won't end anything." Trent stated the obvious. "They believed what Ellasbeth said."

"You know something that you aren't telling me!" I accused him setting the cup on the center island.

"Rachel." Trent said taking a step back as I came forward.

"You better spill." I said getting in his face.

"She was a bit talkative once Quen had said you jumped out." Trent admitted. I waited not moving away from him. Nick had returned to his seat and was holding his side. Jax was on his shoulder and Jenks was keeping watch from the top of the fridge.

"How can you stand so close to him after everything he's done to you?" Nick mumbled.

"Shove it crap for brains." I said not even turning to look at Nick. I kept my eyes on Trent.

"I was worried." Trent said brushing his fingers across my cheek.

"Don't worry about me." I said pressing my lips to his.

"Gag me with a spoon." Jenks was making gagging sounds from the fridge and I heard pixy giggles from the window.

"Ditto." Nick said.

I gently pulled away from Trent giving him some space. "Now tell me."

"Rachel." He sighed. "Maybe a more private location?"

"Nope. Spill it here in front of Nick. He helped with this mess and they're going to try to kill him too." I moved to the center island hopping up on the counter.

It was silent for a few moments before Ivy ruined it. She came out in her silk robe looking like the dead. Her hair was everywhere and I caught Nick checking her out. Since when did he check out Ivy?

"Coffee. Then talk elf." Ivy moved towards the pot.

Trent sighed knowing he was going to have to talk in front of Nick. I doubt there was anything he had to say that Nick didn't already know and if there was Trent was smart enough to keep the important tidbits to himself. Once Ivy had her coffee and had settled sloppily into her chair Trent took a breath.

"Ellasbeth was sought out by a Druchii. She didn't even know what one was. It possessed her teaching her some of the wild magic that our race had forgotten. They told her if she could get you, Rachel, that they would teach her everything they knew. They included how to do a love spell. A real one, that works." Trent said grimly knowing it would have been him that had the spell performed on him.

"So how does Nick fit into all of this?" I asked Trent and not Nick knowing Nick would lie.

"She doesn't know. She blacked out while being possessed and she woke up with her cell in her hand with a number waiting to be called, so she called it. Nick answered." Trent said looking at Nick.

"I had no idea who she was. She asked for my help in finding Rachel. She offered a lot of money so I agreed." Nick said. I wasn't surprised that it was about money again. "I met her in Seattle. She paid me in advance. I told her how to hit her where it hurts."

"Bastard." I went to jump off the counter but Ivy beat me to him, launching a spell book across the table hitting him in the head sending him down for the second time today. "How can you keep working with this Jax?"

Jax looked confused and flew down to dust Nick's head where he was bleeding from the book hitting. He wasn't conscience and I didn't care. Ivy didn't hit him hard enough in my opinion.

"How do we stop them?" I asked Trent.

"I haven't a clue Rachel. We can kill them when they possess someone but I don't know other than that." He was being completely honest. I could see it in his eyes.

"Well crap. We can't just sit around and wait for them to possess someone else. They're going to be pissed enough that I ruined the chance of them having Ellasbeth as an allie." I groaned.

"I think it might be time you ask your demon for some assistance." Trent reluctantly admitted.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

I never thought I'd see the day that Trent willingly went back to the ever after. He was sitting next to me in Al's kitchen having tea and marshmallows? This was so not happening. Al was overjoyed at the idea of having Trent come which worried me even more. Since when was Al okay with my hanging out with Trent? I wondered if he was up to something but I couldn't figure it out. Ever since Trent's office he has known something and not been sharing with me.

"Al, I have to do something before they come for me." I whined. "You're supposed to be helping me."

"I have, love. You're still alive and they've been after you for a week now? I'd say I've done a damn fine job of helping." Al popped another marshmallow into his mouth. I thought bringing him real marshmallows would have softened him up a bit.

"How can I get to them without them possessing anyone?" I asked him not drinking my tea but keeping it to warm my hands.

"Find them." Al's answer was simple, but it wasn't that easy.

"Do you have a way to find them or not?" Trent's first words since we arrived.

Al set down his roasting fork. "Perhaps. What are you willing to give for it?"

"Al! That's not fair. I need it, not Trent." I exclaimed standing up and spilling my tea. "Damn it!" I grabbed a towel and wiped up the bench.

"Rachel." Al groaned. I could tell by his tone that he was softening.

"I need this Al. I've already given you access to all of my funds. I'm risking my ass to help save the whole demonic species and I have to find a way to fix the ever after. Please help me." I asked him again.

"Fine as long as you stop the whining. What is it with all you women?" Al disappeared to return a moment later with a book. It was the same book I had gotten the spell out of to keep Ellasbeth from using magic for anything but good. The book peaked Trent's interest but he stayed put like a good ex-familiar should.

"What am I looking for?" I accepted the book from Al.

"There's a curse that will take out all of the Druchii. It's never been performed because no one demon has ever had enough power to perform it except maybe Newt but that bitch loves chaos. You can do it Rachel." Al explained watching Trent for his reaction.

"I could perform a curse that would kill them all?" I asked already knowing I wouldn't do it.

Al laughed. "No. Don't you think we would have banded together long ago to take care of our little elf problem. It will only strip them of their magic."

"Oh." That I would do. It wouldn't kill them, just make them unable to wreak havoc in reality.

"It's the last curse in the book. Take it with you. Leave the marshmallows." Al said gruffly.

"Thanks Al." I said getting up and moving to the face on the floor, Trent following.

"Yeah, yeah. You owe me again Rachel." Al said and waved his hand towards us.

We landed in my kitchen, the book held tightly in my grip. I almost dropped it as I took in the scene around me. The kitchen was demolished. My hanging rack was no longer hanging, chairs were overturned, the pantry had exploded and food was everywhere.

"Ivy! Jenks!" I rushed towards the living room not finding the scene much better. The couch had been torn apart and all the stuffing removed. The electronics all broken and the scent of ozone hung heavy in the air. Someone had set a circle. Where the hell was Ivy and Jenks?

Trent and I followed the path of destruction all the way to the front of the church with no sign of Ivy or Jenks. I hadn't heard or seen any of Jenks' kids either but if Jenks had given them orders they were following them. Bis dropped from the ceiling and I sent my thoughts out to the ley line putting up a circle around Trent and I.

"It's me Ms. Rachel." Bis said as he dropped into my circle.

"Ivy? Jenks?" I said becoming worried, lowering my circle.

"They went after them. They left here on foot. It was those twins elves." Bis explained.

"I forgot them in Seattle!" It was all my fault again. I had been so sloppy in dealing with stuff lately. I really needed to get my crap straight or someone was going to get killed.

"No, they were spelled Rachel. Someone woke them up. I had sent someone to take care of them." Trent tried to reassure me. Just as I was about to totally freak out I heard Jenks' wings.

"Thank God." I said as he flew in the front door followed by Ivy. They looked completely fine.

"Rache is back!" Jenks took his place on my shoulder. "What did Al say?"

"What did Al say?" I repeated. "Who cares what Al said! What happened here? Are you guys okay?"

Trent moved up next to me gently taking my hand in his. It calmed me a little but probably not as much as he would have liked. "Where's Nick?"

"Oh this?" Ivy waved her hand around the room. "Yeah we had a little run in with your twin friends. They're on the front lawn. Nick got away, again."

-x-x-x-

Several hours later and six trash bags we were done cleaning the church. Sometimes I wished their was a magical, faster way to get this done. Trent refused to go home with the excuse of wanting to be part of whatever was going to happen to his race. I didn't see it that way. The Druchii were something totally different than the elves I was use to, well except maybe Jon. He had finally excused himself to give Quen a call giving Ivy and Jenks and I a chance to talk without him hearing.

"Rache, you're not going to be responsible for that little cookie maker!" Jenks said sweeping some remaining wood shavings off the center island.

"He can take care of himself." I believed it too. Trent didn't need me to watch him anymore. He was getting pretty good with the wild magic.

"The two of you haven't been thinking clearly when you're together. You've always been ruled by your emotions. Trent use to have a brain in that head of his. I think you're rubbing off on him." Ivy sighed sitting down with a cup of coffee.

"Is that such a bad thing?" I asked.

Jenks and Ivy exchanged a loaded look. I didn't even want to hear the answer to that.

"Look we need to just finish this out and Trent and I will have a nice little talk." I slammed Al's book down onto the center island. "Right now I need to look at this curse that Al seems to think will solve all my problems." They both remained silent as I flipped the book open to the last pages.

The curse would need a few ingredients out of the garden which wouldn't be a problem. I would need to have honest intent? I hadn't seen a curse require anything like that before but I wouldn't have a problem with that either. I scrolled down the page to the end and it was the last thing the curse required that I understood why Al was just peachy to have Trent involved. It required blood from a descendant of elves that originally lived in the ever after. Trent was going to have to give me some blood. Swell.

I smelled the hint of cinnamon as Trent came back into the kitchen. He smiled at me noticing his entrance but quickly turned it into a frown when he saw my face. "What is it?"

"To do this curse, I'll need your blood." I said putting it lightly. It was the fashion in that the blood is required to be taken that bothered me.

"Sure. If it will stop them, give me a finger stick." Trent said not even hesitating to help.

"Uh, well that's the problem. I have to take it from you, and not with a finger stick." I looked at the counter not wanting to see the look on his face.

"Tink's little pink thong Rache, just spit it out. What do you have to do to fairy farts?" Jenks broke the silence.

"I have to take it from a knife blade that has penetrated his skin in anger." I whispered.

"Whoa. That's close to crossing a line." Ivy said.

"I know! I know!" I yelled.

"I'll do it." Trent said.

"No. We'll find another way. We can find something else. I'm not going to stab you Trent." I said meeting his eyes. Surprisingly I didn't see any fear in them.

"Yes you will Rachel. I can piss you off enough to get you to stab me." Trent stated regaining some of his confidence. Jenks chuckled and Ivy smirked. What was wrong with them? I was not going to stab Trent. "Get it all ready. We can save the blood for last." Trent turned the book towards him to look over the curse nodding his head in approval.

"I'm not stabbing you." I said more firmly.

"It doesn't say you have to stab me. Just be angry when you break my skin." Trent explained. "I can piss you off and you can swipe my arm with the knife."

"Fine, but if this goes wrong this is your fault." I said pointing my finger at him.

-x-x-x-

The curse was prepped and the only thing left to add was my blood and Trent's. Then I had to invoke it and hope it worked. It was the part about Trent making me angry that worried me. The man had a way of getting under my skin and who knew what he was going to say or do to make this happen. He wanted to see it through to the end as much as I did but I've never performed a curse that hurt anyone but myself. I really was becoming a demon.

"I don't think you're bad if I'm okay with it Rachel." Trent said easing my worries a little.

"Lets just get this over with." I mumbled taking one of my ceremonial knives into my hand. Ivy had decided it better if she waited outside seeing that we were going to be spilling a lot of emotions and blood into the room. Jenks had a few of his oldest kids sitting with Belle and Bis on top of the fridge, the rest of the pixies were to stay outside with Ivy. Jenks had his best peter pan pose waiting on the center island. I felt better knowing he was here. I knew I wouldn't hurt Trent that badly but I hated this whole idea.

Trent stood about four feet back from me and looked deep in thought. I sighed. It couldn't be that hard to think of something to make me angry. Trent smiled and I felt my stomach drop to my knees. He was going to let me have it, I could see it in his eyes.

"I was just thinking about when you were a mink." Trent watched my hand with the knife twitch. I didn't like to talk about that. "I kept you in a cage Rachel. I let Jon torment you for days." I felt little spikes of anger but it wasn't enough. He was going to have to keep going. He saw that also and was up for the challenge. "I put you in the rat fights. You met Nick. He got you your first demon mark." That comment upset me a little more than I thought it would and I tapped the line not even thinking twice. Trent saw that it was working and decided he needed to continue. "I knew that your father was not your birth father since the moment I met you and never said a word. I knew what you were and refused to explain it to you." It wasn't enough. I was mad but I wasn't pissed and I had worked myself through all of those things so they didn't bother me like they use to.

Trent took a breath obviously saving the best for last. He seemed to stiffen thinking that what he said next would cause me to get the blood we needed to finish this curse. "I let Ku' Sox out and now you're stuck cleaning up my mess. You have to save the demons and the ever after or you'll be blamed for the end of magic."

"You bastard! I know it's all your fault! I always have to clean up everyone else's messes when I can't even control my own!" I yelled at Trent. I felt my hair floating behind me as I held the line. "Thousands of people died in San Francisco and I was blamed for it but it was your fault."

"I could have took the blame for my involvement but I didn't. I let you take it all." Trent said not breaking eye contact. He looked so smug I wanted to smack that look right off his face. He came forward only leaving less than a foot of space between us. " I wouldn't change any of it either. You needed to take responsibility for your demon kin."

I moved so quick I hadn't even realized I had done it. I threw a ball of energy out of my hands at Trent knocking him back a few feet but I didn't back down. I came forward throwing out my right foot to catch behind his knees before he could get his balance, successfully dropping him to the floor. I was on him a second later my left forearm cutting off his hair supply and my right had with the knife against his right arm as I strattled him.

I heard everyone on the fridge take a deep breath at how fast I had taken him down.

"Finish it." Trent choked out. For once I listened. I ran the knife down the inside of his forearm only stopping when I felt him stiffen under the skin being broken. The blood ran down the knife, dripping onto my own hand. The smell of cinnamon filled the kitchen as he continued to bleed onto the floor.

Jenks flew down bringing a towel with him dropping it onto Trent's bleeding arm. "Rache, get it into the curse."

I looked at Trent's eyes still not seeing any fear in them. Either he was hiding it very well or he really did trust me. I got off of Trent but kept holding the line. All my warning flags had been tripped and I didn't know why. I gently let three drops of Trent's blood drip into the copper pot. I grabbed a finger stick adding three of my own. The scent of burnt amber swirled with the scent of cinnamon actually smelling quite appealing. Good thing Ivy had waited outside. It was ready to go. I just had to invoke it.

-x-x-x-

Something didn't feel right. I wasn't sure if it was Trent totally being okay with me attacking him with a knife or just the curse in general. I had good instincts and all of them were screaming at me not to do this curse. It was totally prepped ready to go. All I had to do was swallow it, wait until I found the Druchii in the ever after and say the words to take their magic away. I wanted to talk to Al.

I stared at the curse on the counter a moment longer before reaching under and getting my mirror. I was going to listen to my instincts if it killed me.

"Uh, Rache? What are you doing?" Jenks asked seeing the mirror in my hand.

"Checking something." I mumbled. Trent was sitting in my chair at the table with the towel wrapped around his arm where I had cut him. He looked okay but something felt off. I cleared my mind and looked at Trent with my second sight. No weird shadows on his aura, it was him. So why does it not feel right?

I sat in a chair across from him and set the mirror in my lap. I carefully arranged my fingers and tapped the line.

"Al? Al I need to ask you about this curse?" I said out loud. I didn't get a response. I let a few minutes pass before I pressed my fingers harder into the mirror and tried again.

'_Hell Rachel can't you leave me alone for a whole day!?' _Al finally answered.

"No I can't. Something feels off about this Al. Is there something you aren't telling me?" I asked him.

'_I've told you everything love. If something feels off ask your elf. I told you to stop collecting nasty little men.'_ Al laughed.

"I was afraid of that." I swallowed.

'_It requires honest intentions to work. And the blood. Remember that._' Al finished and cut the connection off.

Everyone in the kitchen was quiet as I put my mirror away. Jenks' wings were going full tilt as he watched me walk across the room.

"Trent, can I talk to you in private please." I said looking at him as I shoved the mirror between my books.

He nodded his head and followed me out of the kitchen. I could hear Jenks, Bis, and Belle whispering but I couldn't make out the words. I heard Trent's snort so I know he could. He walked into my bedroom and took a seat on the bed. I closed the door behind us knowing it was only an illusion of privacy.

"Something is wrong with the curse." I said watching his reaction.

He stayed the same. No eye twitch, no touching his hair, no change in his scent. "What happened?" He asked with genuine curiosity.

"The curse has to have honest intentions to work. Mine were honest. What were yours?" I asked staying close to the door.

I saw the skin around his eyes tighten before he answered. "Mine are honest. I just don't want you to go up against the Druchii alone. The curse is set up for you to do it alone. I'm not okay with that."

"That's not your choice! I can do this Trent. You didn't worry about what I would have to take on alone when you cursed me to the ever after!" I was trying to not let my anger rule what I wanted to say but it was hard.

"Now that isn't fair. I did that to help you. Let me help you now." Trent pleaded with his eyes.

It was really hard to say no to that man when he looked at me like that. "I can't. I will not be responsible for anything that happens to you. I can't have you die."

"I'm not going to die Rachel." Trent said getting up from the bed.

"But you could." I put up a hand to stop him from coming closer only he didn't stop. He took me into his arms and I let him.

"I can't watch you go on your own. If you go I'll follow and you know it." He whispered into my hair.

"I know but you're too important. Too many people depend on you. I couldn't live with myself if something happened." I explained.

"This is about Kisten." He realized.

"Yes." I whispered afraid if I said anything else I would cry.

"Okay. I'll sit this one out. I won't follow you." Trent hugged me tighter.

"Promise me?" I asked looking up at him.

"I promise." Trent said.

-x-x-x-

After the little talk with Trent things felt okay. I didn't have the strange feeling that this wasn't going to work. I drank the whole entire awful pot of that curse and memorized the words I needed to strip their magic. It was easy enough, if I could find them. Al had called me back offering to go with me. Either he wanted in on something big that was going to change the ever after or Newt thought I was going to get myself killed again. It didn't matter, I felt better that he would be there. I hated the ever after and I was certain the Druchii were living on the surface. Swell.

I was dressed in my normal ass kicking outfit and was having a fantastic hair day. I looked good and by the way Trent couldn't keep his eyes off me I knew it. I had my splat gun tucked into the back of my leathers but not really sure if it would do me any good or even be needed. I had ten minutes before Al would be here to pick me up and end the temper tantrum by the Druchii. I found it weird that a curse by a female demon was the only way to stop them. That's probably why the elves killed all the females, well the ones Newt didn't get to.

I felt a twinge on my awareness and I realized Al was early. That was going to make saying goodbye go by that much faster.

"Okay guys, I'll be back as fast as I can." I said. "Al's early so I gotta get out there."

"Kick some Druchii ass Rache." Jenks grinned.

"Yeah knock em dead." Ivy said paying attention to her cup more than me.

"Be smart." Trent kissed me lightly on the lips breaking away quickly with all the kissing noises Jenks was making.

I smiled and turned to walk out the back door. I stopped before I could go out hoping this wouldn't be the last time I see the church.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The trip through the line with Al had been silent. He was on edge but I couldn't tell why. He wasn't scared of the Druchii but there was something bothering him.

"Spill it. I know there's something you aren't telling me. I'm going to risk my life to end this mess so you better give me my dying wish." I said looking Al up and down as we stood in what looked like the cemetery of my church but in the ever after.

Al made a quick decision. "Fine. There is a good chance you won't make it out alive. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen."

I had a feeling that it was something along those lines but I felt a lot better knowing Al had my back. How did I get here? I use to fight demons. Now I fight with demons. "How about we get this over with?"

Al moved closer to me and we were jumping another line. This one felt different. Old. It almost had a smell like nature, leaves and sunset. It reminded me of Trent. I had definitely never been near this line before. We dropped down behind a stone wall that was surrounding what looked like trees. Trees in the ever after?

"Where are we?" I whispered to Al my curiosity getting the better of me.

"The Druchii have held this land for thousands of years. Demons have never been able to get past these walls. Lets hope you're the first." Al whispered back.

"Swell." I sighed.

"Have more confidence in yourself Rachel. You're a demoness. You can do anything. The rules don't apply to you. You were born to make the rules, just as Newt does." Al explained.

"Really?" I was interested now.

"Are you always dumb as a rock? How have you lived this long?" Al threw his hands in the air. "You can walk through this wall. Just make a rule that you can and it will happen."

"Fine." I snapped at him. "I say that any demon that wants to walk through this wall and into the Druchii stronghold can."

Al pushed his hand against the wall, nothing changed. He sighed. "Tap a line and make the rule in the collective."

"Oh!" I felt stupid now. I hadn't even thought of doing that. I closed my eyes and did as Al told me. Once I had blocked out all the other voices I was hearing I concentrated on having mine heard. I knew I was only talking in my head but that all demons would be able to hear me. I felt Al's presence in my head also, when had he done that?

_'All demons that want to walk through the wall to the Druchii stronghold can now do so.'_ I said it and there was complete silence before I felt something ping back into me.

"It's done." Al said. He lifted his hand and pressed it against the wall only it fell right through.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed. "I did that!"

"Now hurry up and get in there and say your curse." Al pushed me forward shoving me through the wall.

I fell to my knees on the other side. I lifted my head to see I was in a forest. It was beautiful. There was a stream running through the center and it's noise was calming. There were trees as far as I could see. Wild flowers were everywhere and it smelled like summer. I gasped as Al grabbed me and yanked me to my feet.

"Is this what the ever after should look like?" I asked still in awe.

"It did at one time." Al sounded sad.

"Where are they?" I asked him, still looking around but not seeing anyone.

"They're here. I feel them. That tingle going up your arms, that's them." Al said.

"I don't feel it." I looked down at my arms as if they had the answers.

"You spend too much time with elves." Al snapped.

I had horribly dirty thoughts of Trent pop into my head and Al turned to look at me feeling it. "You and the elf?"

"Shut up." I said and concentrated on hearing or feeling something. I finally heard it. Over the sound of the stream I could hear voices. Lots of voices.

"Now they know we're here." Al said taking in the look on my face knowing I had found them. "Do your spell before they come."

I tapped the line ready to do the spell but I felt dizzy. Something wasn't right about the line. It was too heady, I felt drunk. "Al I think-." I couldn't even finish my sentence and I fell to the ground.

"Shit." Al said reaching down to help me back up. "It's wild magic. The line is made of it and we're at it's creation point. It's stronger here. You've been able to work with your elf with wild magic, yes?"

"Yes." I slurred.

"Then channel, spindle, damn send it my way. Push it back out. Do whatever you do with him to make your sexcapades work. Then remind me to buy you a cake love." Al grinned.

"Suck my toes.." I started and couldn't finish, the line felt too good.

"I do believe you just made a pass at me." Al was getting way too much enjoyment out of this. I felt him start to pull some of the energy from me and I was able to stand again.

"Thanks Al." I was able to say a full sentence now.

"It feels quite nice love. Do keep sending it my way." Al smiled showing his blocky teeth.

I could feel the path the energy was taking to loop into Al before spilling back into the line and I pushed a little more into him.

"Mmmm, do it again." Al was still holding my shoulder with a look of complete bliss on his face.

"I'd rather not." I squeaked hoping this didn't turn into Al making a pass at me.

Al cracked one eye open. "This is nothing. I had Ceri for a thousand years. Now do your curse."

"Good point." I pushed some more his way and I finally slowed the flow when I felt him stiffen. That was his limit. Thank god it was not anywhere close to my capacity.

I closed my eyes and opened my mouth to say the curse when I heard another voice. A familiar one. One even Al recognized and opened both of his eyes.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Al asked looking at me with pure anger.

-x-x-x-

"I don't know! I just left him in my kitchen. You tell me?" I asked Al.

"That's why you don't collect nasty little men!" Al bellowed.

Well if they didn't know we were here before, they sure did now. Within seconds we were surrounded by figures that were gray and shriveled. They looked like really old people with no clothes. They pegged about a seven point five on my weird creep o'meter.

"Bloody hell." Al said loudly waving his hand and dropping four of the figures.

"Al stop! I have to know where Trent is." I grabbed his hand before he could drop the other two.

"Answer the demoness now or you will be just like them." Al threatened.

"The center of all." One of the figures answered and then dropped to the ground to match the rest.

"That does not sound good." I looked at Al.

Al had a look of wonder on his face. "It's where the ever after was created. We've never been able to fix the ever after because the Druchii have been hiding it this whole time. I think you will need your elf to finish this."

"Maybe I can fix more than one thing today." I said as I walked further into the forest wondering what I would need Trent for.

Al followed and I hoped it wouldn't be long before other demons had heard my rule and would come. I was worried at how Trent ended up here. He had promised me he wouldn't follow.

-x-x-x-

Al and I walked for a long time. I lost track of time and just kept moving through the forest. We didn't encounter anyone else but I could feel their presence all around us. It would have been a comforting feeling if I didn't know it was the Druchii probably waiting to make a move to take us out. Al was whistling the same song over and over again and I found myself humming along. Nothing about this day was going to be normal. Al abruptly cut off his tune and we stopped in front of the biggest tree I had ever seen. I expected to see it surrounded by Druchii but there was no one. The part that really bothered me is we had both heard Trent yet he was no where to be seen. Can the Druchii make themselves sound like someone else?

Al turned to me. "I can't touch the tree. It was where the ever after sprouted from and only someone that was not here when it was created can touch it."

"Why? That doesn't make sense. You helped make it. Why can't you touch it?" I asked staring at the tree not understanding how this was going to solve our problems.

"It is just the way it is." Al sounded sad as he spoke. "There is more to the war than you know Rachel. We have kept that a secret all these long years."

I tried not to look at Al. I didn't want to see this vulnerable side to him. I just wanted to end this mess with the Druchii. I moved forward to the tree and I felt it's power press against me. "There's a line that runs through it?"

Al nodded but didn't explain. "Do the curse Rachel. End what has gone on for too long with the Druchii."

It wasn't like Al to be so calm about things. He seemed to be tired of the struggle over all the years. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do but I felt like I was being pulled by the tree. It was like a voice inside was calling me forward. I wondered if Al could hear it too? I went to set my hand on the trunk of the tree when I fell through it. I stumbled and I was standing inside of the tree. It reminded me of Jenks' stump short of the rooms and furniture.

"Al?" I called out. He didn't respond and I knew he couldn't hear me. I wasn't sure what to do. I was inside of the tree, but the line wasn't running through it. The tree was the line. It pulsed in all directions but it felt like I was standing in the calm of a storm. I could tap the line but I didn't feel like I needed to. It was everywhere. I felt like I was part of it. It wasn't the same as standing directly in a line but this was more of I had merged with the line and become part of it.

I could see every line that had ever existed. I could even see the old lines through the desert that we had driven past on the way to California. I could see the line that I had made. It was broken and leaking and all the energy was pulsing the wrong way. I reached my mind out to fix it. I pulled the energy back into myself but it didn't feel overwhelming. Somehow being in the tree was filtering all the raw power of the lines. I mended all the holes and gaps and pushed the energy back into the line I had created. It lit up like the forth of July and then pulsed the reddest I had ever seen a line. It looked like the lines that had been created with wild magic.

It gradually went dimmer the longer I stared at it but I also realized it was no longer leaking. Had I really fixed the line? I wouldn't know for sure until I talked to Al or Newt but I had a feeling that I was done with that problem. Now onto the bigger one. I reached out to the old lines that ran through the desert. I could feel the hum of old power waiting to be awoken. I pushed as much energy as I possibly could through them and my breath whooshed out of me as they hummed back to life. They were glowing more brightly than I had ever seen any line glow. It was the hum of raw wild magic. I felt the earth shake and heard crumbling around me but I couldn't stop now. I just hoped Al would be ok.

I was ready to do the curse that would stop the Druchii. I pushed my thoughts out trying to sense where the Druchii were and strangely enough I could pick them out through this part of the ever after. I could tell where each one of them were and they were all right here trying to get into this tree.

"Oh my God Al!" I shrieked. I didn't know if he had gotten away but I've come too far to stop now. If I've learned anything by watching all the sacrifices my loved ones had made it wasn't to give up when you were about to win. I was out of time and I needed to do the curse.

"_Finire regulam, eorum accipiemus veneficus, facere hoc totum iterum!_" I yelled. I felt dizzy and light headed as the energy surrounding me seemed to pass through me. It wasn't the same as the power of lines but it was wild magic singing through the air to me. It called at me to follow it but I was afraid. Al didn't say this would happen. I didn't know what to do and I knew I couldn't walk out and ask him. I resisted the urge and it seemed to subside. Then the smut hit me. I fell to the ground screaming feeling all of the raw lines from the tree run through me. I had never felt such pain, all I could do was scream.

"I take this!" I finally got out but it did no good. This wasn't the kind of curse I could just accept smut for and that would be the end of it. I was altering the ever-after forever and I wasn't going to make it out of this tree. My vision blurred and everything went black as I screamed hoping the pain would stop.

-x-x-x-

I cracked one eye open to see Trent sitting in front of me. I tried to move and I couldn't. I screamed in agony as I realized I could still feel all the lines running through me. I was lying on the ground inside of the tree. I didn't know how Trent had gotten there but he was trying to tell me something only I couldn't stop screaming to hear him.

He shook me trying to get me to snap out of it. It hurt too much. I started to close my eyes hoping to pass out but he shook me again not letting me. I gritted my teeth and bit my tongue to keep from screaming.

"Listen to me Rachel." Trent started seeing that I was making an effort to listen to what he had to say. "Al said you have to seal the curse to make it final. You have to seal it."

"Don't." I screamed again. I was trying to tell him I didn't know how. "Know."

He reached out and took my hand and I felt some of the lines go into him. He didn't yell but dropped to the ground next to me as his body shook from the force of the lines. It was enough to take the edge off of me that I could hear Al in my head.

'It's about damn time Rachel!' Al bellowed. 'Seal it and the pain will stop.'

"I don't know how." I said outloud but I know he could hear it in my thoughts.

'Use your elf. That's why they had him. His blood helped create it and you can't seal the curse without him.' Al explained.

"Trent, I need a knife. Do you have a knife?" I asked knowing he could hear me but not expecting his to respond. I know he was in a lot of pain giving me the ability to think. His right arm twitched and that was enough for me. I dug through his pockets on the right side of him not finding a knife but finding a pen. This was going to hurt a whole lot more but it would have to be done. I didn't know if this would seal it but I knew it had something to do with our blood. I pulled the pen out of his pocket and stabbed my left hand until it bled. I took Trent's hand and did the same.

I gripped our hands together until our blood had mixed then pressed our palms to the ground. "_Ista maledictio signatus est!_"

The pain of the lines disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. I could feel it all around us but it no longer hurt. I felt like I was part of the lines again. Trent was sitting up and pressed his palm to his jeans to stop the bleeding. "Are you okay?" He asked me.

"It's done. I fixed the ever-after." I said feeling tears roll down my face. It hadn't been my intention to do that when I came here to perform the curse but I felt like it was my only chance. I had brought the lines back to life in the desert and I was hoping to see some major changes in the ever-after when I walked out of this tree.

I could feel Al in my thoughts again so I knew he had to be right outside of the tree. 'It worked Rachel. You did it.' He said.

Trent reached out and hugged me not caring that I was covered in dirt and our blood. "Rachel, I love you. Don't ever scare me like that again."

I cried harder. I never thought I would hear those words from Trent. Drunken confessions mean nothing but this, this meant something. He hugged me tighter as I cried not really expecting me to say anything.

"I love you too." I sniffled in between sobs. He tilted my face to his and pressed his lips softly against mine. It was the most tender kiss he had ever given me and it was exactly what I needed to calm down.

"Let's get out of here." He said and picked me up. I let him cradle me and I dropped my head against his chest. I had had enough for one day and I closed my eyes and breathed in the delicious scent that was Trent.

-x-x-x-

I opened my eyes and I was in a room I had never been in before. The bed was quite comfortable but it looked like the walls were made out of dirt? I sat up but it was too dark to tell. I thought I smelled burnt amber but I also smelled cinnamon and leaves. Trent. I looked on the side of me and he was asleep in the bed also. I was wearing a nightgown I had never seen before and someone had bandaged my palm. It was still pretty sore from being stabbed with a pen repeatedly but it was better than being dead.

I shook Trent trying to wake him. "What?" He mumbled not really fully waking.

"Trent, where are we? Wake up!" I pushed him harder and his eyes snapped open as he came to a full sitting position.

"Rachel? What's wrong?" He asked reaching out for my hand.

"Where are we?" I asked him again.

"We're in the ever-after." He said simply and laid back down.

"What?" I shrieked jumping out of the bed. I was in full panic mode. Why were we still in the ever-after? Had I done something wrong with the curse? Did I change something that made it so we can't go home? What had I done?

Trent was out of bed a second later and very distracting since he was only wearing a pair of silk boxers. "Rachel, calm down it's ok. This is your room. Al had it added on to his for you. We are in Al's house I guess you could say. We aren't stuck here. You were out of it and needed to sleep and Al said you have your own room so we just came here."

"Ok." I took a deep breath. Al gave me my own room. That was part of a deal before he just followed through with it. "Why didn't you just take me home?"

"I thought you'd want to see when you woke up." Trent said with a smile on his face.

"See what?" I asked.

Al popped in probably hearing our voices and knowing I was up. I glared at him seeing him eye me up and down knowing where the nightgown had come from. He grinned.

"Get dressed love. People to see." Al was far too cheerful. He snapped his fingers and I was in my working leathers, a halter, and some nice black boots. Trent also was suddenly in a suit to match the color of my shirt which of course was purple, Al's favorite.

The next thing I knew we were jumping a line to the surface? Why on earth would we go up there? Only when I finally took it in I could see why. Every demon I had ever met was on the surface. It wasn't the same ever-after. It was covered in trees, grass, flowers, water flowed, and the buildings were no longer crumbling. The best part was there was sun. There was sun in the ever-after.

As soon as the other demons noticed me they flooded me with handshakes, hugs, and even some kisses. I had done this. I had truly fixed the ever-after. I began to cry again seeing it restored to it's original state. My happiness was short lived seeing Newt approach us.

Trent moved to the side of me taking my hand in his. Al was beaming so proud of his student he was telling everyone, not paying attention to Newt. She stopped in front of us and Al's smile faded.

"I told you to kill them all." Newt said calmly.

"I found a better way." I responded.

Newt tilted her head and seemed to ponder my answer. "You have fixed the lines. All of them."

"She fixed them all?" Al asked with surprise.

"Yes, even the ones in Arizona. She did it. She saved us." Newt said but she didn't seem too happy about it.

"And what of the Druchii? I took their magic. They can not defend themselves against you." I said to Newt.

"They have been dealt with." Newt smiled.

I didn't like her answer but there wasn't much else I could say. I didn't do what she had told me to. I had found another way. It was the only way I could live with myself. I nodded to acknowledge I heard her.

"You did well Rachel. Take you elf and go home. We'll see you on your weekly visit." Newt said. "I have some business to discuss with Gally."

Al reached out and touched both Trent and I and sent us back to the church. We dropped in the kitchen. It was quite crowded. Ivy, Quen, Ceri, David, Jenks, Bis, Belle, Nick, Jax, and almost all of the pixies were waiting for our arrival. Everyone burst into noise at once and I couldn't take it. I just started to cry happy that we had made it through. Trent wrapped me in his arms and I felt a little more calm but I didn't want him to let go. I just wanted to be alone with him.

"Please, get me out of here." I whispered in his ear.

He ushered me out of the kitchen and told everyone I just needed a moment. I was fine and just needed some time. We made our way to my bedroom and he grabbed my hands.

"Lets get out of here." He smiled. "_Adferte ad me ire per."_

I didn't have time to ask where we were going as I felt the wild magic sweep us into the line. We popped out in a forest that looked vaguely familiar to me.

"Where are we?" I questioned.

"Where it all began." Trent answered quickly taking my hand and walking me through the trees. We came into a clearing and I could see a lake and a dock and the sun was still high in the sky.

"Oh my God! Trent we're at camp?" I smiled at him.

We kept walking down to the dock. We both removed our shoes and rolled up our pant legs sitting on the end of the dock, toes dipping into the water. I snuggled up against him but I didn't feel cold this time. He wrapped his arm around me as he had so many years ago.

"This was really sweet Trent. I can't believe you brought me back here." I said meeting his beautiful green eyes.

"I really want us to give this a chance Rachel." He reached out and ran his finger along my jaw.

"Me too." I said and really meaning it. I had never been great with the whole relationship thing but Trent truly knew me. He was my best shot at making one of them work.

We sat there for hours. We talked about our past, sharing things that neither one of us knew about the other. We talked about what we wanted for the future and where we wanted this to go. We even spoke of marriage as a possibility. We sat until the sun set and a chill settled around us. I felt Trent tap the line and warm me.

"You never did teach me how to do that." I laughed.

"I promise. I could show you so much." He smiled.

"Cool." I smiled back.


End file.
